NEW
YORK (AP) — General Electric says it’s going to build the largest U.S.
solar panel factory, part of a $600 million dollar bet on the future of
solar power in the country.

The
new plant will employ 400 people and produce enough solar panels to
power 80,000 homes per year, GE said Thursday. The company isn’t saying
where the plant will be located, but it does say that there are multiple
locations being scouted.

GE
says its thin film solar panel has been certified as the most energy
efficient of its kind by the National Renewable Energy Lab in Colorado.
The technology for the panel, called CdTe thin film, lends itself to
low-cost, large-scale manufacturing.

GE recently acquired PrimeStar Solar Inc. a maker of thin film solar panels based in Colorado.

SOURCE: The Associated Press