First Solar acquires solar tracking company RayTracker Inc

First Solar, the world's biggest solar company by market value, yesterday acquired solar technology company RayTracker Inc, for an undisclosed sum.

Pasadena, California-based RayTracker manufactures photovoltaic (PV) tracking systems for solar PV plants. It offers RayTracker GC, a solar tracking system that autonomously points the panels at the sun, as well as control system records data from a GPS satellite and uses actuator to position panels into optimal position.

Technology developed by RayTracker includes its GC-Series single-axis trackers, its unique PV-Platform Software Toolset for system design and operation, wireless infrastructure technology, and other PV balance-of-system innovations.

RayTracker, which is backed by Idealab, The Quercus Trust and Phoenix Fire IV, LLC, was spun out of Energy Innovations and is an   operating company of Idealab, a creator and operator of technology businesses.

Tempe, Arizona-based First Solar is the world's leading manufacturers of photovoltaic solar modules and systems, and has been ranked number one by Forbes Magazine as the fastest growing technology company.

It manufactures solar modules with an advanced semiconductor technology and provides comprehensive PV system solutions. The company manufactures cadmium telluride (CdTe)-based photovoltaic (PV) modules, which produce electricity with a thin CdTe film on glass.

First Solar recently reached an average conversion efficiency of more than 11 per cent; CdTe technology is the most environmentally friendly of current PV technologies and was the first panel maker to cross the $1-per-watt threshold, making its energy competitive with power produced by conventional means.