GE to build U.S. solar panel factory

June 17, 2011

GE has announced plans to manufacture its full-size thin-film solar panel at a new 400-MW U.S. factory that the company says will be larger than any existing solar panel factory in the country. The $600 million factory will employ 400 people and, at capacity, will produce enough panels to power 80,000 homes annually.

The panel was produced on the manufacturing line of PrimeStar Solar Inc., Arvada, Colo., a thin-film solar technology company recently acquired by GE. It was measured by the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) at a 12.8 percent aperture area efficiency, surpassing previously published records for CdTe thin film.

According to the company, global demand for photovoltaics (PV) is expected to grow by 75 GW over the next five years, with utility-scale solar power plants making up a significant part of that growth.