Latest from Mag

Plenty of executive appointments over the past two weeks. Here’s Electrical Marketing’s expanded coverage of personnel changes in the electrical market.
Dec. 21, 2012
Wire man John Pasqual and lighting rep Jack Melnick
Dec. 21, 2012
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Electrical product prices remained on their flat trend, showing no change from October and little change in almost all major product categories.
Dec. 21, 2012
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Privately-owned housing starts in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 861,000, 3% below the revised October estimate, but 21.6% above the Nov. 2011 rate.
Dec. 21, 2012
Dec. 21, 2012
Veteran reps form new agency in Raleigh; WinWholesale buys Lloyd Graves in Texas; United Electric Supply expands through acquisition; and more.
Dec. 21, 2012
W.W. Grainger Inc., Lake Forest, Ill., announced plans to purchase Techni-Tool Inc., Worcester, Pa., a 200-plus employee distributor supplying customers in the cable television...
Dec. 21, 2012
Kaman Industrial Technologies (KIT), the industrial distribution business Kaman Corp., Bloomfield, Conn., has built up in recent acquisitions of Minarik, Zeller Electric and others...
Dec. 21, 2012
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg offered an update on the city’s plans to renovate its infrastructure to withstand future storms.
Dec. 7, 2012

GE Goes Big in Solar Manufacturing with New Plant in Colorado, Largest in U.S.

GE announced last week that it plans to build a new $600 million solar panel factory in Aurora, Colo. When completed, the manufacturing facility will
Oct. 21, 2011
2 min read

GE announced last week that it plans to build a new $600 million solar panel factory in Aurora, Colo. When completed, the manufacturing facility will be larger than any existing solar panel factory in the country today. GE anticipates the new factory, which will employ 355 people in Colorado, will begin producing its first panels in 2012 with commercial availability in 2013.

The new factory will use an existing building in Aurora, just east of Denver, and near GE Energy's existing solar “center of excellence,” including a thin-film solar pilot line where joint technology advancements from GE's Global Research Center and PrimeStar Solar have been validated and tested. GE completed the acquisition of PrimeStar earlier this year.

When finished, the new facility will be larger than 11 football fields and will produce enough panels per year to power 80,000 homes.

“Working with our Colorado-based solar team, we were able to achieve record efficiencies in our solar panels in record time,” said Victor Abate, vice president of GE's Renewable Energy business. “The Colorado location will allow us to deliver our technology roadmap faster and commercialize industry-leading panel efficiencies sooner. We also look forward to continuing to build our relationships with Colorado's local, state and federal officials who have been extremely helpful as we moved through the site selection process.”

Solar panels produced in GE's new Colorado factory will be more efficient, lighter weight and larger than conventional thin film panels, the company claims. Higher efficiency is a key component of GE's commitment to offer advanced solar products while reducing the total cost of electricity for utilities and consumers, it said in a press release announcing the new plant.