First Solar, Inc. (Nasdaq: FSLR), on April 13, made its latest thin-film photovoltaic modules available to commercial installations in the 10-kilowatt to 30-kilowatt range. Previously the modules were only available for larger-scale projects.

The company’s solar panels have been used at some of the largest solar farms in the world, including the 80 megawatt Sarnia, Ontario solar farm. And it’s building even bigger solar farms, like the 2 gigawatt (2,000 megawatt) Ordos photovoltaic plant in China. The company, which is well on its way to producing 2.9 gigawatts of its thin-film cadmium tellurium photovoltaics annually, has focused exclusively on solar arrays larger than 30 kilowatts since entering the market in 2002.

Silicon-based photovoltaics are still more efficient during peak hours of sun, but thin-film modules can produce electricity in lower light conditions, and studies, like one conducted by juwi solar Inc., have shown that thin-films on average have a 5.4 percent higher annual performance ratio than silicon. Silicon modules are more expensive because of the materials and energy needed to produce them.

So silicon photovoltaics’ main advantage over thin-film photovoltaics is that they take up less space. But First Solar’s Series 3 modules are now roughly 11.6 percent efficient at converting sunlight to electricity, making them more suitable for smaller-scale installations like warehouse rooftops or community solar gardens.

“Our decision to enter the market for smaller installations of 10 kW or more was driven by the increasing demand for our product for commercial systems below 30 kW as well as in response to our core markets in Europe, where we see higher growth rates for rooftop installations,” said First Solar spokesperson Alan Bernheimer. “With the introduction of the latest, high-efficiency First Solar Series 3 modules, First Solar wants to respond to this growing segment by opening the 10- to 30-kW commercial market for our customers,” he said.

The market could be potentially huge for First Solar.

“Commercial rooftops in the 10 to 30-kW range represent a multi-gigawatt market globally,” said TK Kallenbach, president of First Solar’s Components Business Group, in a press release.

At this point, First Solar is only making the panels available for the medium-sized commercial market in Europe, according to Bernheimer.

“At present, in the U.S., neither First Solar nor our customers serve this market,” he said.

Image courtesy of First Solar.