First Solar Lands 550-Megawatt California Project (FSLR)

8/18/2009-First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) said Tuesday that it signed a deal to manufacture 550 megawatts of solar power generation for Southern California Edison by 2015 as the state's utility operators shift towards alternative energy. First Solar said that it costs roughly 90 cents per watt to create its thin-film solar panels, putting a price tag on the project at approximately $495 million, which doesn't include the labor and material costs associated with the project. Acccording to terms of the agreement, First Solar with construct two solar facilities, one 250 megawatt Desert Sunlight project located in Desert Center California, and another 300 megawatt Stateline projected, which will be located in San Bernardino County. Construction will commence in 2012 and 2013 for the locations, respectively. Upon completion, the two projects are expected to generate approximately 1.2 billion kilowatt-hours of energy per year.

Write to Chip Brian at cbrian@tradethetrend.com

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SmarTrend analyzes over 5,000 securities simultaneously throughout the trading day and provides its subscribers with trend change alerts in real time. To get a free trial of our trading calls and maximize your trading results, please visit http://www.TradeTheTrend.com.

Get exclusive, actionable insight into how the market is expected to trend prior to market open with our free morning newsletter. Sign up at: http://www.TradeTheTrend.com/signup.html

Related terms: alternative energy, california, construction, electricity, energy, manufacturer, market, nasdaq, securities, solar power, utilities