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General Electric, a leader in wind turbine manufacturing, began to dabble in solar when it acquired part of a small Colorado-based company called PrimeStar Solar in 2007. It later bought all of PrimeStar, which focused on the same type of thin film panels that First Solar makes. GE announced in 2011 that it would build the nation's largest solar panel manufacturing plant, but last year put the plant on hold. Earlier this year, GE's panels set a record for thin film efficiency at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Co. Now First Solar and GE hope that by combining their technology, they can increase the efficiency of the panels, which would have the effect of reducing the cost of the electricity they produce. The companies hope to regain the cost advantage of thin film over crystalline silicon. First Solar also announced Tuesday that it would acquire a 1.5-gigawatt portfolio of solar farm development projects in the U.S. and Mexico from Element Power, which was owned by the clean energy private equity firm Hudson Clean Energy Partners. Terms were not disclosed.
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