Image: First Solar

First Solar, an American solar manufacturer, has decided to reduce its module production output in Malaysia and Vietnam, the company said in its 2024 performance review.

First Solar will reduce the production output of its Series 6 modules from its Malaysia and Vietnam facilities, which will cut a combined 1GW of production in 2025.

The company mentioned four reasons for the decision.

First, since the start of Donald Trump’s second presidential term, policy uncertainty has grown as his executive orders and tariffs on countries like China and commodities like aluminum and steel directly impact the solar industry.

Second, the EU market is dominated by Chinese solar modules, with prices at levels near or below First Solar’s manufacturing cost.

Third, the Indian market is “effectively closed” to Southeast Asian finished goods - the country  introduced a 40% basic customs duty on solar modules and 25% duty on solar cells in April 2022.

Another issue is a supply and demand imbalance for Southeast Asian products.

With production scaling down in Southeast Asia, First Solar noted that it is expanding its global capacity by 4 GW, supported by its fifth U.S. manufacturing facility, which is set to begin operations in the second half of 2025.

First Solar’s output reached 15.5 GW in 2024 and is projected to increase to 18–19 GW in 2025 and exceed 25 GW by 2026.