For utility-scale solar installations to be economically viable, the electricity they produce must be price-competitive with electricity from other sources. The technological capabilities now in place are sufficient to make solar energy a part of the world’s energy mix. Yet actually delivering cost effective utility-scale solar energy requires more than just technological innovation.
To scale from kilowatt-sized installations on residential rooftops to hundreds or thousands of megawatt-scale solar farms, the industry needs business innovation as well. Applied Materials’ fab2farm™ solar deployment model unlocks a rare opportunity to rethink how solar can benefit a community.
The fab2farm Ecosystem
The fab2farm™ model links communities, utilities and solar panel manufacturers to meet peak energy demand and achieve utilities renewable portfolio goals.
Governments want jobs and renewable energy. Utilities want to find the lowest cost method to generate a portion of their energy from renewable sources. And consumers want affordable, eco-friendly electricity. The fab2farm model brings these elements together to build a solar-powered ecosystem, fueling local economic development.
fab2farm Whitepaper
Read how Applied Materials' fab2farm model creates jobs and delivers lowest solar energy cost
Download PDF
SunFab Panel Manufacturing Factory
Owned by an Applied Materials customer, a manufacturing facility containing one fully-integrated SunFab™ thin film line could produce 80MW of panels a year, enough to power 35,000 homes during peak hours. The SunFab 5.7m² full-size panels are the largest, most powerful and most cost-effective solar panels in the world, enabling up to 17% reduction in balance-of-system costs for utility scale solar farms.
Utility-Owned Solar Farm
Equipped with panels made on the SunFab line, the solar farm could achieve less than $3.50/watt installed cost. This utility-scale solar farm not only generates price competitive, clean renewable energy to meet peak hour demands, but also help the utility avoid up to 170,000 metric tons of carbon (CO₂) a year, and significantly reduces fuel price uncertainty by lowering the utility's exposure to volatile natural gas prices.
Local Community
In addition to enjoying clean, affordable energy, the community benefits from an economic ripple effect that extends far beyond local jobs created by the factory and the solar farm. From training programs at community colleges, technology R&D investments at local universities, to reduced unemployment burden on local government, all can benefit from the multi-year, billion dollar potential economic development fueled by the sun.
