Earth Day 2020: A Tale of Two Crises

During this Covid-19 pandemic, we are all doing our part to flatten the curve by working from home, social distancing, disinfecting our facilities, conducting temperature screenings and donating surplus gloves and N-95 respirator masks from our sites in Santa Clara, Mesa, Perrysburg, Kulim and Dong Nam. But as we face this crisis, we must not lose track of the other one looming on the horizon. We must find a way to flatten the climate curve, limit global average temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius and live within our planetary boundaries. Last year, the world continued to consume more resources than the planet can replenish in a given year- the equivalent of 1.7 Earths. This Earth Day, we celebrate the various ways First Solar and its associates are helping to flatten the climate curve. 

At our core, we are a solar technology manufacturing company driven by our vision to lead the world’s sustainable energy future. We do this by providing a sustainable solution to climate change, energy security, water scarcity, and the unsustainable growing consumption of natural resources. Our thin film solar modules are manufactured using less energy, water and semiconductor material than conventional crystalline silicon modules and in locations with a lower carbon-intensive grid. We follow a circular business model throughout our operations and product life cycle, viewing manufacturing scrap and end-of-life modules as a resource and not as waste. Our industry-leading recycling process recovers more than 90% of a First Solar module for reuse in new solar modules and glass products. Since 2018, our routinely operated recycling plants in Germany, Ohio, Malaysia and Vietnam generate zero wastewater discharge, converting it instead into freshwater that can be reused in the recycling process.

Manufacturing PV modules with the lowest carbon footprint, fastest energy payback time and lowest life cycle water use in the industry enables our customers to decouple their business growth from negative environmental impacts. A recent study by WattTime, in partnership with First Solar, found that while the geographic location of a solar project plays the largest role in determining its net avoided emissions impact, the type of PV technology selected (including where it was manufactured) can also have a significant impact on the project’s overall emissions reductions. In regions with less emissions-intensive grids, such as France, the net emissions reductions rate can vary by more than 70% depending on the technology.

Mean net emissions reduction rate of each technology in each location (kg CO2/MWh). Source: Richardson, Henry. Lifecycle and Avoided Emissions of Solar Technologies. WattTime. February 2020.

As part of our efforts to further embed sustainability into our culture, First Solar’s sustainability ambassadors network helps raise environmental awareness across the company and encourages associates to make small positive changes at work and at home- from creating office recycling stations, switching something off, planting trees on our campuses and in our communities, to thinking before we print and promoting the use of reusable cups in our cafeterias. While most of our Earth Day activities have had to be cancelled due to Covid-19, First Solar’s sustainability ambassadors are still taking action separately at home, together. In celebration of Earth Day’s 50th anniversary, our manufacturing facility in Vietnam is partnering with their cafeteria to offer discounts to associates who bring in their own reusable cups and bottles. 

First Solar’s Vietnam facility switched off all non-essential lighting and monitors to mark Earth Hour on March 28th.

As we contemplate our new normal in the midst of the Coronavirus and prepare to rebuild our economies, governments and investors have an opportunity to hit the restart button and invest in technologies that will enable us to leapfrog to a carbon neutral economy by mid-century. We are already starting to see some promising signs. In the U.S., Virginia recently became the first southern state to mandate a transition to 100% clean electricity and zero carbon emissions by 2050. In Europe, several member states have started calling on the European Commission to include a 100% renewable energy scenario in its 2050 energy and climate projections. 180 ministers, MEPs, CEOs, NGOs and Trade Unions recently launched the European alliance for a green recovery, which calls for the establishment of Green Recovery Investment Packages to help accelerate the transition towards climate neutrality. The Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) has demonstrated that going 100% renewable is both technically feasible and economically viable for Europe by achieving a high electrification rate of 85% for the energy system. It’s time to take a giant leap forward rather than two steps backwards.