General Electric picks Colo. for solar panel plant (Reuters) - General Electric Co on Thursday said it has selected Colorado as the location for a solar panel factory that will create 355 jobs in that state.
The 400-megawatt plant is part of a $600 million investment GE said it would make in its solar business earlier this year.
About half of that investment is for the plant, a spokesman said.
GE uses the same cadmium telluride thin-film solar technology as First Solar, the world's most valuable solar company.
The new factory will be up and running in 2012, and the panels will be available commercially in 2013, GE said. It is expected to produce enough panels each year to power 80,000 homes.
The factory will be located in an existing building in Aurora, which is slightly east of Denver.
In addition to the jobs GE will create in Colorado, the company said its solar business will also add 100 new positions in New York state.