ge

General Electric plans to build a thin-film solar factory in the U.S. that will produce solar cells that have an efficiency of 12.8 percent, the company announced today.

In conjunction with this news, GE also announced that it has acquired PrimeStar Solar, a company GE has had a stake in since 2008.

The thin-film solar cells to be manufactured using cadmium telluride were developed by PrimeStar through a cooperative research program with Department of Energy's National Center for Photovoltaics. The cells were given a 12.8 percent efficiency rating, through a verification process conducted by the National … Read more

General Electric Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt defended the nuclear industry's safety record today during a trip to Tokyo to show support to the operator of a stricken nuclear plant using reactors designed by the U.S. conglomerate.

Immelt met with executives at Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), operator of the Fukushima power plant that was crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and is leaking radiation in the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986.

GE and its nuclear business partner Hitachi have sent over 1,000 workers to help with the so far unsuccessful efforts to get the … Read more

General Electric's new hybrid light bulbs have begun shipping to retailers and are expected to be available nationwide by April 22, Earth Day, the company announced yesterday.

The hybrid halogen-compact fluorescent (CFL) light bulbs, announced in October 2010, look like a spiral frosted CFL light bulb snugly fit inside a clear glass bulb shaped like a typical incandescent light bulb.

One selling point is that the bulbs don't take time to light up like many CFLs currently available. When switched on, the hybrid bulb's halogen portion lights up within a half-second. Then once the CFL portion has … Read more

General Electric Energy today said it has agreed buy power conversion company Converteam to boost GE's industrial and renewable-energy businesses.

GE Energy said it will pay $3.2 billion for 90 percent of Massey, France-based Converteam, which makes power control technologies including motors, generators, and power electronics.

With the acquisition, which is expected to close in the third quarter this year, GE is seeking to play into the "mega trend" toward using electricity in heavy industries, such as mining and pumping gas through pipelines, the company said. Converteam's equipment can reduce electricity of motors by one … Read more

SustainX announced today it's received $14.4 million in funding from GE subsidiary GE Energy Financial Services, Cadent Energy Partners, Polaris Ventures, and Rockport Capital.

The New Hampshire-based company is a start-up that grew out of the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College in 2007, and has been developing a compressed-air energy storage unit intended for integration with smart grids.

Simply put, its innovative storage unit uses compressed air to store, then generate electricity. But unlike other compressed-air storage units, which use a compressor to store air underground, SustainX stores the air in a standard tank located above … Read more

Nvidia's CEO added his two cents to an increasingly popular theory on laptop design: that is, the MacBook Air as a template for all future designs.

In case you're wondering where the laptop is headed--circa 2014--Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang offered what could be considered a highly educated guess in response to a question I posed to him in a phone interview today.

"You'll have trouble finding one that doesn't look like the MacBook Air," he said. "I think the Macbook Air is a good mental image of what a clamshell laptop will look … Read more

You can include halogens to the list of lights that can replace traditional incandescent bulbs.

General Electric on Monday announced a line of halogen lights, which are available now, in the shape of the familiar incandescent which up to 22 percent more energy efficient.

A 2007 law created mandated efficiency levels for home lighting, which is expected to lead to fewer incandescent bulbs, starting with the 100-watt incandescent next year. Governments in other countries have set similar lighting efficiency requirements, which has led to more options for efficient lighting.

Compact florescents and large LED bulbs are expected to meet the … Read more

General Electric's decision to acquire Lineage Power Holdings reflects the growing importance of power electronics amid the explosive growth of portable computers and phones.

GE yesterday said it has signed a deal to pay about $520 million for Atlanta-based Lineage Power to beef up its energy and electric grid-related portfolio.

It gives GE efficient power-conversion products--the hardware needed to convert between alternating current and direct current--used by telecommunications companies and data center operators.

"Every new mobile device plugs into an infrastructure that requires an ever increasing amount of high-quality power. The growth in high-bandwidth mobile Internet applications and … Read more

LAS VEGAS--General Electric today said the next phase of its $200 million entrepreneurship challenge will focus on home energy management.

GE at the Consumer Electronics Show said that the contest, called "Ecomagination Challenge: Powering Your Home," will begin January 18 and run through to March 1.

In July, GE launched the first phase of the contest with four venture capital companies to seek out business ideas for modernizing the grid from the general public. In November, it said it will provide grants or invest directly in several power grid-related companies, covering everything from way-out ideas such as solar-powered … Read more