GE hails thin film as winner in solar strategy review

Company announces plans for launch of new thin film solar cell product

Rachel Fielding, BusinessGreen, 23 Mar 2010

Engineering giant General Electric (GE) announced yesterday that it is ramping up its research and development capabilities in the area of thin film solar systems, following an internal review that concluded the photovoltaic cells represent the most promising form of solar technology currently under development.

The company said that it will tighten links with PrimeStar Solar, a solar technology startup in which GE has held a majority stake since June 2008, through a joint GE/PrimeStar product being developed at PrimeStar's headquarters in Arvada, Colorado.

PrimeStar Solar specialises in the manufacture of high-performance thin film photovoltaic (PV) modules used in large-scale solar PV power plants.

The company claims the thin film PV modules use only a fraction of the raw materials and require far less energy for manufacturing than conventional crystalline silicon PV.

Researchers from GE will work with a team of PrimeStar engineers as part of a new project to improve the efficiency, reliability, production and installation costs, and manufacturability of thin film solar cells.

Advocates of thin film technologies have long argued that they have the greatest potential for delivering low-cost PV solar panels, as they use fewer raw materials and can be manufactured using printing press-style systems that promise to slash the cost of production.

"After having completed an exhaustive survey of the PV landscape, we determined that thin films was the optimum path for GE," said Danielle Merfeld, GE's solar R&D leader, in a statement. "Specifically, the CdTe technology from PrimeStar has great potential.”

The collaboration with PrimeStar is the latest in a series of solar developments by GE, which already employs hundreds of solar energy specialists in Germany, China, India, and the US, and claims to have unique materials and systems modelling and design capabilities, as well as boasting state-of-the-art indoor and outdoor solar testing facilities.

The company says it is working around the clock at its four research centres around the world to deliver a breakthrough solar cell that can produce power that is cost competitive with electric power generated from conventional fossil fuels.

Source: http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2259970/ge-hails-thin-film-winner-solar