On October 19, according to foreign media reports, Swift Current Energy, an independent power producer, filed a lawsuit against First Solar, an American solar module manufacturer.
The lawsuit alleges that between 2021 and 2024, Swift Current Energy purchased defective Series 6 Plus and Series 7 series components from First Solar. The total supply is more than 2.4 million solar modules, and the power generation capacity is up to 1.2G W after putting into operation. These components are
currently installed in three projects under the Swift Current Energy name. In 2023 and 2024, a large number of modules were installed on the 800 MW "Double Black Diamond" photovoltaic project in central Illinois, USA, and then the modules had performance problems. "Buyer's construction contractor discovered during initial capacity testing that First Solar's module power output was defective,"
according to the complaint document. In response, First Solar said that more than 1.6 million components supplied to it had manufacturing defects that led to failures in the components installed in the project. The two manufacturing process errors identified by
First Solar for its Series 7 products are "Edge Grind" and "Substrate Defect." . Specifically, during the edge grinding process, the glass paste residue may be splashed onto the glass before the CdTe layer is deposited. Delayed cleaning of this residue may result in fouling of the assembly, preventing the absorber layer from forming as designed.
In the complaint, Swift Current Energy States, "Both of these errors cause physical defects in the component, resulting in irreparable loss of capacity and further deterioration of component performance."
In addition, Swift Current Energy said that First Solar disclosed the manufacturing process errors of Series 7 components to investors as early as the end of October 2024. However, it was not until November 2024 that First Solar disclosed its component performance issues to Swift Current Energy. In December
2024, Swift Current Energy filed a formal warranty claim against it. However, in May 2025, First Solar responded that it "lacked sufficient information to fulfill its warranty obligations" .
According to the complaint documents, the only solution First Solar proposed was to return each piece of the assembly for testing before confirming the warranty claim. In June 2026, Swift Current Energy also sent a supplementary letter referring to the manufacturer's failure to respond to warranty claim notifications. "Many of First Solar's components have deteriorated within a year and a half beyond the levels expected over their entire 30-year service life,"
Swift Current Energy said in the complaint.
In addition, the complaint cites First Solar's modules as suffering from a so-called "loss of metastability" problem, which results in a decrease in solar panel efficiency during cold periods or when the modules are left without light for long periods of time, including during winter or dark storage, and a "dormant" state in low temperature and low light environments.
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