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Saturday, April 9, 2011

GE is Taking the Lead in Solar

Once again, its good to see a big corporation take a stand in the world of alternative energy. I just found out today that GE, along with PrimeStar, has developed the world's most efficient thin-film photovoltaic solar panel. at almost 12% efficiency, it takes almost a 2% leap over previous thin-film arrays, and can boost energy savings by up to 20%. This is big news, considering the money going into this operation is astronomical. GE has decided to invest $600 million in a brand new solar facility that can produce enough solar panels to power 80,000 more homes every year, or roughly 400Megawatts. On top of this, they are filling orders for another 100Megawatts. This is huge news for solar power, which as I've written on my blog before is in my opinion the true green energy of the future. Below is an image of a thin-film solar array. In my opinion, they are more aesthetically pleasing and economical than standard solar arrays.

 I believe that we can invent solar panels that may one day power an entire house off a single panel and power cities off of a single square mile of panels. The power is there, its bountiful, and we almost have a solid grasp on it. One day we won't have to peer up at buzzing wiggling high tension towers stretching across the landscape, or watch worriedly as we blast apart mountains for coal and pollute the rivers and ecosystems, such as we are doing now at increasingly destructive rates. I may be a green liberal, but I still have faith in our capitalist system to switch our demands to that of green energy and sustainable infrastructure. It's up to us as consumers to move forward with the transition to renewable energy

Source

27 comments:

Leestander said...

True all need to change to Solar / water / air energy <3

ExoticBlogger said...

good job GE!

Patres said...

I do hope the tech gets even more refined so things like these can be as small as you suggest, because seeing them everywhere is pretty... well ugly. Not saying a coal plant is beautiful but...

Insider33 said...

We could finally find some use for deserts.

Fix PC Games Admin said...

I believe in this technology we should use it more

Pentele said...

Go nuclear, save the world. Not really.. Great insight on the subject, man.

i said...

Really cool developments. It's a shame too many people consider aesthetics primary to functionality. Looks be damned, I think solar panels should be on every building.

Wayward Disposition said...

Solar is definitely the answer to the world energy crisis. I hope this catches on.

Team Panda said...

i don't get why it took this long to develop solar tech. hasen't it been around long enough. anyway, hope it makes a difference.

Unknown said...

interesting post

Grafted said...

Awesome post, renewable energy is the way to go

Unknown said...

yeah. its about time.

Danny Murphy said...

Great post mate, interesting stuff, I still think nuclear is the way forward but an progress on th alternative energy is great new.

RootYourDroid.net said...

I would love to learn more about this! We want to put this up at our camp!

Ares said...

Free energy for everyone man ! No need to rape the earth anymore.

Mike Litoris said...

about damn time

POP! said...

We'll see how the solar shingles from Dow turn out... :)

taylor said...

Sweet, I used to think nuclear power was the best way to go, now I'm not so sure...

asldkasd said...

I think the intention of GE for this, are not exactly environmental, more from a monopolized business production sense. But, however it happens it's a step in the right direction.

Crownless King said...

Pretty intresting man.

JuX said...

$600 million for 80000 homes. That seems steep. But good on them.

Joe said...

Its 80,000 homes worth of solar power every year, so after 10 years that would be 800,000 homes powered by solar panels produced by the $600 mil factory, making it less than $1,000 per house in upfront costs.

metaphysicalfarms said...

I'm glad I own GE stock... they are changing the world

#19 said...

Even if one of the main reasons they're doing it is for the good PR they're getting it's still a nice gesture, Would be nice if more companies follow GE's lead here.

Niek said...

Solar energy ftw, just don't like the panels on my roof

killerkun said...

It was about time they started doing this

Jacob said...

Its a good start, glad to see companies starting to consider renewable energy. :)

Again, innovations will eventually make it be way more efficient than oil or natural gas IMO. Just needs the boost until then (And for some reason I think that if the US had a Carbon Emissions Tax more companies would be green).

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