Just fifteen miles outside of Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam’s Dong Nam Industrial Park, First Solar has begun construction on its four-line PV module manufacturing plant. The ground breaking of First Solar’s US$300 million Vietnamese plant comes one week after the company announced its plans for a second U.S. manufacturing plant in Mesa, Arizona. Commercial production at the Vietnam site is slated to begin during the second half of 2012.

“Our Dong Nam factory will play a key role in our plan to nearly double First Solar’s capacity by 2012 and further reduce the cost of solar electricity,” said Bruce Sohn, president of First Solar. “We look forward to working closely with the Vietnamese authorities in the months and years to come.”

Up to 600 associates will be employed at the First Solar plant in Vietnam, which will generate over 250MW of the company’s thin-film solar modules every year using First Solar’s continuous manufacturing process. The manufacturing plant does allow for future expansion and will feature a 3MW solar installation on the factory roof to offset some of the plant’s energy needs.