×

GE.com has been updated to serve our three go-forward companies.

Please visit these standalone sites for more information

GE Aerospace | GE Vernova | GE HealthCare 

header-image
Renewables

This Scientist Has Turned The Tables On Greenhouse Gas, Using CO2 To Generate Electricity

March 07, 2016

Solar power is a great source of renewable energy, but as with many things in life, timing is everything. The sun doesn’t shine on long winter nights when people turn on their lights. On the other hand, a sunny Sunday afternoon can produce an ample electricity surplus that’s difficult to store.

“That’s the grand challenge,” says Stephen Sanborn, senior engineer and principal investigator at GE Global Research (GRC). “We need to make renewable energy available to the grid when it is needed.”

header-image
best of 2015

19 Tech Stories From 2015 You Should Know About

Tomas Kellner
December 26, 2015
There were many tech stories that caught our eye in 2015. Here are 19 examples that either touch on GE technology and research or received funding from the company. They stretch from the depths of the human genome to edge of the solar system. Take a look:
header-image
Solar Power

Something New Under the Sun: GE’s Industrial Grade Inverter Takes Solar Power to a New High

Tomas Kellner
September 10, 2015
Try as he might, Vlatko Vlatkovic won’t make the sun shine brighter. So when he wanted to make a more efficient solar farm, he and his team had to go for the next best thing: a gray plastic box the size of a small hut called the inverter. “It takes direct current from the PV panels and turns it into alternating current that you can use,” says Vlatkovic, chief engineering officer at GE Power Conversion. “Since the inverter system also represents as much as 20 percent of the capital costs of the farm, you could make a huge impact if you made it more efficient.”
header-image

Rise and Shine: This Diamond-like Material is Helping Solar Power Cast a Bigger Shadow

July 28, 2015
The energy usage curves of most industrial countries – or load curves - have long resembled a crumpled fedora hat. They rise sharply at daybreak as people start brewing coffee and companies switch on machines, then peak twice – in the morning and the late afternoon, before dropping off after dinner. Utilities usually crank up their turbines and bring extra power plants online to cover the “peak” demand.
header-image

Mark Baker: Magic in the Moonlight

Mark Baker GE
December 10, 2014
Our ancestors knew when to plant by looking at it, ship captains navigate by it, and wolves howl at it … and now its draw will power our cities.  After solar power, moon power — or more exactly tidal power — is well positioned to provide a sustainable, limitless power supply for years to come.
 
header-image

Will the Sun Become the World’s Dominant Source of Power?

October 28, 2014
Every day, somewhere in the world, up to 100 megawatts of new solar power goes online. The global capacity to transform sunrays into clean, carbon-free electricity topped 150 gigawatts of this year, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), with the U.S. accounting for about a tenth of that.
header-image

Debora Frodl: Data Driving the Future of Clean Tech

Debora Frodl GE
October 06, 2014
Clean tech may conjure images of electric vehicles and solar-powered homes, but it’s no longer just about stand-alone hardware technologies you can plug into the grid or drive on the road.
 

Clean tech is increasingly about IT-enabled distributed and fully integrated energy systems that have the potential to transform lives around the world — as well as the prosperity and productivity of countries across the globe.
header-image

Report: Germany’s Clean Energy Spending Outpacing Returns

April 24, 2014
Germany, once an undisputed frontrunner in the clean energy revolution, is on the verge of losing its foothold in the international race to go green, according to a recent report that evaluated the energy and climate policies of 24 select countries.
header-image

Report: US Needs to Up Its Game in Race for Clean Energy Investment

April 21, 2014
The United States has fallen behind China as the top destination for clean energy investment, and it will need to take action to remain competitive in the multibillion-dollar sector, according to a report from the Center for American Progress.
Subscribe to Solar Power