Hello everyone and welcome to First Solar's 2024 annual meeting of stakeholders. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. As a reminder, today's call is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to Mark Widmar, Chief Executive Officer of First Solar, Inc. Mr. Widmar, you may begin.
All right, thank you. I would like to welcome you to the 2024 annual meeting of stakeholders of First Solar, Inc. Today's virtual-only meeting is a live webcast. We believe in engaging with our stakeholders and hope that this virtual meeting will maximize the participation of stakeholders regardless of their location. This technology enables us to reach a larger audience while also containing our costs. Thank you for taking the time to participate today. On behalf of the board, I also wish to express thanks to those stakeholders who have submitted their proxies in advance. Participating with me today are Alex Bradley, Chief Financial Officer, Jason Dymbort, General Counsel and Secretary, and John Russo, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers. We're also joined by the following directors: Michael Sweeney, Paul Stebbins, William Post, Molly Joseph, and Murthy Renduchintala. I call your attention to the rules of conduct set forth for this meeting.
These are made available to each stakeholder in the meeting center. We ask that participants abide by these rules so that we can conduct an orderly meeting. If you need a copy of the annual report or the Proxy Statement, these links are also available online in the meeting center. To access the links, click on the Documents folder at the top of the screen. Only registered stakeholders are entitled to participate in the business of the meeting.
The business to be conducted at this meeting is as follows: to elect 10 members of the board of directors to hold office until the next annual meeting of stakeholders or until their respective successors have been elected and qualified; to ratify the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as First Solar, Inc.'s independent registered public accounting firm for the year ending December 31st, 2024; to approve an advisory resolution on the compensation of First Solar's named executive officers; to approve an amendment and restatement of First Solar's bylaws to permit stakeholders to call special meetings; and to vote on a stakeholder proposal to adopt a shareholder's right to call a special shareholder meeting. While we will be soliciting your questions throughout the meeting, feel free to pose a question at any time. You may do so by clicking on the Q&A button at the top of the screen.
In accordance with the bylaws of the company, as appointed by the chairman of the company's board of directors, I will act as chair for this meeting. In accordance with the bylaws of the company, Jason Dymbort, the General Counsel and Secretary of the company, will act as secretary of the meeting. Crystal Goldman of Computershare Trust Company, N.A., the transfer agent for the company, has been appointed inspector of the election for this meeting. She has taken her oath of office and which will be filed with the records for this meeting. I now ask that Mr. Dymbort give the secretary's report on the qualifications of this meeting to proceed.
Thank you, Mark. The notice calling this meeting was mailed on March 28th, 2024, to stakeholders of record as of the close of business on March 18th, 2024, and the company has received an affidavit of mailing from the company's transfer agent as to its mailing. The affidavit of mailing is available for inspection by any stakeholder and shall be retained with the records of this meeting. Since March 28th, 2024, the proxy statement, the former proxy, and the annual report have been available to stakeholders on the company's website in accordance with the Securities and Exchange Commission's notice and access rules. In addition, the proxies and the certified list of stakeholders are in the custody of the inspector of election.
For more than 10 days prior to this meeting, the stakeholders' list was available for inspection by stakeholders during normal business hours at our corporate headquarters located at 350 West Washington Street, Suite 600, in Tempe, Arizona. Also, the company's audited financial statements for the year ended December 31st, 2023, are provided online. Pursuant to the bylaws of the company, the holders of the majority and total voting power of the outstanding capital stock of the company entitled to vote at a meeting of the stakeholders, present in person or represented by proxy, constitute a quorum for the company's annual meeting. Based on the inspector of election's preliminary report on attendance and proxy share count, I have been advised by the inspector of election that a quorum is present at this meeting.
When delivered, a copy of the inspector of election's report on attendance shall be retained with the records of this meeting. As notice of this meeting has been given in accordance with applicable law and there is a quorum present, all legal requirements for holding this meeting have been satisfied. Following the formal portion of this meeting, Mark and Alex will present an overview of the company's business and address questions that are submitted. Please note, this presentation and the ensuing question-and-answer session may include forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from management's current expectations. We encourage you to review the safe harbor statements contained in today's presentation for a more complete description.
All right, thank you, Jason. The meeting is lawfully convened and ready to transact business. The proxy statement that has been made available to the shareholders in connection with the notice of this meeting set forth the matters to be submitted to a vote of the shareholders. At this time, if you have not voted or wish to change your vote, you may do so by clicking on the link provided online. Any shareholder who has already voted and does not want to change his or her vote need not take any further action. We now proceed to the matters to be voted on. The first item to be voted on in this election of directors to hold office until the next annual meeting of shareholders or until their respective successors have been elected and qualified.
The proxy statement lists the director nominees, all of whom, other than Murthy Renduchintala, are currently serving as directors of the company. Each nominee has consented to act as a director for the ensuing year. The director nominees, as set forth in the proxy statement, are Michael Ahearn, Anita George, Molly Joseph, Lisa Kro, William Post, Murthy Renduchintala, Paul Stebbins, Michael Sweeney, Mark Widmar, and Norman Wright. Are there any comments or questions concerning the election of the directors? The next item of business is the ratification of the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers, First Solar's independent registered public accounting firm, for the year ending December 31st, 2024. At this time, John Russo, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, is in attendance and available to answer any appropriate questions and to make a statement if he wishes. John, do you wish to make a statement?
Mark, this is John. Is a statement necessary? Thank you.
I will pause now to allow for any comments or questions concerning the ratification of the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers as the company's independent registered public accounting firm. The next item of business is the advisory vote to approve the compensation of First Solar's named executive officers. Are there any comments or questions concerning the advisory vote to approve the compensation of First Solar's named executive officers? The next item of business is the vote to approve an amendment and restatement of First Solar's bylaws to permit stakeholders to call special meetings. Are there any comments or questions concerning the vote to approve an amendment and restatement of First Solar's bylaws to submit excuse me, to permit stakeholders to call a special meeting?
The next item of business is the stakeholder proposal submitted by Mr. John Chevedden requesting that the shareholders adopt a shareholder right to call a special shareholder meeting. At this time, Mr. Glyn Beatty, on behalf of Mr. Chevedden, is in attendance via telephone, and I will ask that he present the proposal. Operator, please enable Mr. Beatty's telephone line.
Hello, can you hear me?
Yes.
Thank you. Proposal five: adopt a better shareholder right to call a special shareholder meeting sponsored by John Chevedden. Shareholders ask our board to take the steps necessary to amend the appropriate company governing documents, to give the owners of a combined 10% of our outstanding common stock the power to call a special shareholder meeting regardless of length of stock ownership, and to enable street-name shareholders and non-street-name shareholders to have as much equal rights in calling for a special shareholder meeting as allowed by state law. This includes making the necessary changes in plain English. This proposal has already been somewhat successful in moving the First Solar board of directors to ask shareholders to approve a form of a special shareholder meeting right for the shareholders in proposal four today. However, this proposal recommends that 10% of shares have the right to call for a special shareholder meeting.
The board proposes a higher 25% stock ownership threshold, and then the board sandbagged their 25% figure with a rule that excluded all shares owned for less than a full year. Thus, a group of shareholders who own 25% of First Solar stock held for a full year could determine that they own 40% of First Solar stock when length of stock ownership is factored out. Thus, the board of directors haven't in fact adopted a 40% stock ownership threshold when this proposal called for a 10% stock ownership threshold. It would be consistent for First Solar shareholders to vote for both proposal four and this improved proposal five. This proposal five is a more favorable-to-shareholders version of proposal four.
Calling for a special shareholder meeting is hardly ever used by shareholders, but the main point of the right to call for a special shareholder meeting is that it gives shareholders at least significant standing to engage effectively with management. Management will have an incentive to genuinely engage with shareholders instead of stonewalling if shareholders have a realistic plan B option of calling a special shareholder meeting. With widespread use of online shareholder meetings, it is much easier for management to conduct a special shareholder meeting, and the First Solar bylaws thus need to be updated accordingly. Please vote yes, adopt a better shareholder right to call a special shareholder meeting proposal 5. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beatty. Are there any comments or questions regarding the shareholder proposal? Okay. I hereby declare the polls closed. The formal portion of this meeting is hereby concluded. The inspector of election will now tabulate the votes, during which time Alex and I will present an overview of the company's business and answer any questions you may have. We will report the results of the voting before the close of the meeting. Beginning on slide 6, I'd like to reiterate the importance of our growth pillars as it relates to delivering shareholder value. Together, these pillars are our balanced business model, an optimized product, a repeatable and scalable manufacturing format, and a commitment to investing in differentiation. Power forward our growth journey, allowing us to meet demand while navigating volatility and uncertainty. Turning to slide 7, I would like to highlight the market opportunity before us.
As shown in the graph to the left, the amount of utility-scale PV deployment in the United States is expected to increase by 7% through the end of the decade. As shown in the graph to the right, PV on an unsubsidized basis in many markets has a levelized cost of energy, which in most cases is competitive with other forms of fossil fuel generation. Accordingly, the market momentum for PV continues to build. Turning to slide 8, we will continue to adapt our business model to remain competitive in a constantly evolving market through our points of differentiation, which will include a competitively advantaged CdTe thin film module technology and a vertically integrated continuous manufacturing process. We have created a resilient business model that better enables us to manage through the periods of growth and uncertainty.
Overall, I'm pleased with our manufacturing execution, which stems from our proprietary technology that enables us to produce a CdTe module within a single factory in a matter of hours. This vertically integrated manufacturing process provides us with end-to-end manufacturing control and superior supply chain transparency for our customers. By contrast, the largest PV module manufacturers globally produce crystal silicon modules using a batch-based technology with multiple process steps, often across multiple factories and continents. As a result, a production of a single crystal silicon module may take multiple days. Turning to slide 9, we continue to expand our manufacturing nameplate capacity. We exit 2023 with 16.6 gigawatts, a nearly 70% increase in capacity compared to the previous year, including commencing production at our new Series 7 factory in India.
By the end of 2026, we expect to have over 25 gigawatts, including new Series 7 factories in Alabama and Louisiana, as well as further expansion of our existing facilities in Ohio. Turning to slide 10, our approach to responsible solar is interwoven into every aspect of our business and product life cycles, from raw material sourcing to end-of-life recycling. We are enhancing environmental impact across the product life cycle by providing PV modules with the lowest environmental footprint, reducing our operational impact through resource efficiency, and by committing to go 100% renewable by 2028. We have a unique and longstanding leadership position in solar PV recycling as the first solar manufacturer to establish global in-house PV module recycling capabilities in 2025, providing high-value recycling services to our customers ever since. At First Solar, innovative and passionate people working ethically and safely form the foundation of our success.
We are committed to providing a safe, diverse, and inclusive workplace for all of our associates and ensure we operate a responsible supply chain with zero tolerance for forced labor. We do not source any module components from Xinjiang, China, which mitigates supply chain disruption and human rights risk. On a governance basis, we have been publicly reporting on our sustainability performance for over a decade and had the first PV products listed in EPEAT registry for sustainable electronics. EPEAT is a globally recognized and independently validated eco-label, which reinforces our sustainability credentials. In 2021, we became a member of the Responsible Business Alliance in an effort to strengthen our responsible sourcing program. Our Ohio, Vietnam, and Malaysia facilities achieved platinum status, the highest possible ranking, in their most recent validated assessment program audits.
Turning to slide 11 and providing a little more detail on our environmental sustainability advantages, First Solar is contributing to a circular economy by converting mining byproducts into leading eco-friendly PV technologies that can be manufactured using less energy, water, and semiconductor material than other commercially available PV technologies. Due to our resource-efficient manufacturing process, our Thin Film modules have the lowest carbon and water footprints and the fastest energy payback available in the market today. Our Series 7 module is our most eco-efficient product to date, featuring a carbon and water footprint nearly 4 times lower than conventional crystalline silicon modules manufactured in China and an energy payback time approximately 5 times faster. In just 2 months, First Solar's Series 7 PV modules produce more energy than is required to create them.
This corresponds to a 180-fold energy return on investment over a 30-year life cycle, providing an abundant net energy gain to the electricity grid. I will now hand the call over to Alex, who will discuss our 2023 and Q1 2024 financial performance.
Thanks, Mark. Turning to slide 13, in 2023, we continued our strong momentum established in the previous year, securing an additional 28.3 gigawatts of net bookings. We also set a new sales record with 11.4 gigawatts of volume sold in 2023. From a manufacturing perspective, we produced a record 12.1 gigawatts, which represents a 33% increase from the previous period. We exited the year with a top production bin of 475 watts for our Series 6 product and 545 watts for our Series 7 product. Financially, for the full year 2023, earnings per diluted share were $7.74, which was above the midpoint of our guidance range. We ended the year with a net cash balance of $1.6 billion. Turning to slide 14, Q1 of 2024, we strategically built on our backlog with year-to-date net bookings 2.7 gigawatts and an average ASP of $0.313 per watt.
This brings our total backlog to 78.3 gigawatts. From a manufacturing perspective, we produced 3.6 gigawatts in Q1, a new quarterly record. We continue to make steady progress on the construction of our new Alabama, Louisiana, and Ohio facilities, and we expect to launch our first CuRe lead line at our Perrysburg facility in Q4. This investment to accelerate the replication of CuRe across the fleet has the potential to accelerate the timeline of our technology attributes, which would help capture incremental upside to ASPs. Financially, we earned $2.20 per share and ended the quarter with a gross cash balance of $2 billion, a net cash balance of $1.4 billion. With that, Mark, I'll turn the call back over to you.
Okay. Thank you, Alex. The floor is now open for any questions you may have. You may submit questions online by clicking on the Q&A button at the top of the screen. Are there any questions that any shareholder would like to ask at this time?
Mark, there have not been any questions submitted by stockholders.
If there are no further questions or comments, I have been advised by the inspector of election that the tallies are now available, and I will ask the secretary of the meeting to read them.
On the proposal regarding election of directors, the inspector advises that each nominee recommended by the board of directors has received the majority of the votes cast with respect to such candidates' election. Therefore, each of the 10 nominees has been duly elected to hold office until the next annual meeting of stockholders or until their respective successors have been elected and qualified. On the proposal concerning the ratification of the appointment of First Solar's independent registered public accounting firm for the year ending December 31st, 2024, the inspector advises that 80,589,547 shares, or approximately 88.72% of the shares represented in voting on this proposal, have voted for ratification of the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, as the independent registered public accounting firm for the company for 2024.
On the proposal concerning the advisory vote to approve the compensation of First Solar's named executive officers, the inspector advises that 73,995,632 shares, or approximately 92.22% of the shares represented in voting on this proposal, have voted to approve the advisory vote on the compensation of First Solar's named executive officers. On the proposal concerning the approval of an amendment and restatement of First Solar's Bylaws to permit stockholders to call special meetings, the inspector advises that 74,442,236 shares, or approximately 92.78% of the shares represented in voting on this proposal, have voted to approve the amendment and restatement of First Solar's Bylaws to permit stockholders to call special meetings.
On the stockholder proposal to adopt the shareholder right to call a special shareholder meeting, the inspector advises that 38,023,796 shares, or approximately 47.39% of the shares represented in voting on this proposal, have voted to approve the stockholder proposal to adopt a shareholder right to call a special shareholder meeting. Accordingly, the proposal has failed to pass. Mr. Chairman, the final votes of the stockholder vote, reflecting all proxies received through the close of the meeting and any votes cast during this meeting, will be included in the final report of the inspector of election and will be published on a Form 8-K to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and will be available upon request.
Thank you, Jason. This meeting is now concluded. I want to thank you all for attending today's meeting and for your support you have shown First Solar.
Thank you, everyone. This concludes the meeting. You may now disconnect.