CONDUCT COMPREHENSIVE SUSTAINABILITY EVALUATIONS OF THE PROS AND CONS OF BACK CONTACT DOPING AND ENCAPSULATION ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED BY FIRST SOLAR FOR DECREASING DEGRADATION AND INCREASING THE LIFE OF THE CADMIUM TELLURIDE (CDTE) PHOTOVOLTAIC (PV) MODULE. WITH DECREASING DEGRADATION FROM THE CURRENT ~0.3%/YEAR OF SERIES 6 MODULES TO LESS THAN 0.2%/YEAR, LONGER SERVICE TIME BECOMES MORE MEANINGFUL. THUS, FIRST SOLAR IS ALSO INTERESTED IN OPTIMIZING THE ENCAPSULATION OF THEIR MODULES TO ENHANCE MOISTURE INGRESS PREVENTION AND EXTEND MODULE LIFETIME, AIMING AT ENABLING A LEVELIZED COST OF ELECTRICITY (LCOE) AT OR BELOW 2 CENTS/KWH FOR UTILITY INSTALLATIONS AT SUNNY LOCATIONS. IN THIS PROJECT WE PLAN TO CONDUCT SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS WITH BOTH LINEAR AND NON-LINEAR DEGRADATION CURVES PAST THE 30-YEAR LINEAR PERFORMANCE WARRANTY PERIOD. THE INTENT IS TO INCORPORATE ALL RELEVANT INFORMATION GAINED FROM CURRENT MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY INTO THE MODELS AND RESULTS