Amidst the recent trend of corporations supporting renewable energy, Facebook is directly investing in a 300 MWac solar project in Texas and will be purchasing power generated by a 122 MWac solar project in Utah. Both solar projects will use photovoltaic modules developed by First Solar, who has a vast patent portfolio in the Thin Film Photovoltaics sector. Although First Solar does not have any filings in 2017 in this sector, it has filed an application directed to vapor transport deposition in late 2018. This may indicate that the company is returning to innovating after having secured these major deals with Facebook, who is committed to powering 100% of its data centers with renewable energy by 2020.
