I cannot get it out of my head how SMART the ceo of APWR was for using the PRC to aquire the bankrupt Eva_Tech out of Japan and into China for thin film wall panels of solar and using Yulanda as the guaranteed customer, ie the LARGEST CHINESE CONSTRUCTION company in the world………..BRILLIANT!

CNET) — General Electric plans to give its solar business a charge in two years with the introduction of panels with the same solar cell material used by industry cost leader First Solar.

General Energy is developing a solar energy product aimed at utility and commercial customers.

In 2011, the energy giant expects to produce solar panels made with cadmium telluride, a thin-film solar cell material, said Michael Idelchik, vice president of advanced technologies at GE Global Research at the EmTech conference here on Wednesday.

The company now sells solar panels that use silicon solar cells, but its long-term bet is on thin-film and specifically cadmium telluride because it offers the cheapest cost per watt, he said.

Last year, GE’s energy division took a majority stake in Golden, Colorado-based PrimeStar Solar, for its cadmium telluride cell technology. GE is now developing a product around that aimed at utility and commercial customers.

Solar at GE is a relatively small part of its sprawling energy portfolio, which covers everything from nuclear power plants to natural gas turbines. But GE expects that solar has the potential to grow rapidly, as its multi-billion dollar wind business has done over the past five years.

“Solar is definitely the next wind for us. It’s not there yet but it’s moving very rapidly,” said Idelchik. Solar is more expensive than wind right now, but GE expects that renewable energy mandates will help drive growth and bring costs down, he said.

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Thin-film solar cells offer lower production costs than the incumbent silicon because thin-film cells use far less material.

Over the past five years, several solar companies have formed to make thin-film cells from a combination copper, indium, gallium, and selenide (CIGS), which are still not in the market in high volumes. GE’s cells will be made from a compound of cadmium and tellurium.