First Solar , North America’s largest photovoltaics company, looks set to consolidate its position as one of the cost leaders in the solar industry following some significant improvements in technology and panel efficiency that have led to a lower manufacturing cost per watt for the company’s solar panels. In this note, we take a look at some of the factors that could give First Solar’s panels an edge over its competitors, particularly Chinese polysilicon based panel manufacturers going into 2014.

Trefis has a $58 price estimate for First Solar, which is slightly above the current market price.