It was especially rewarding to the technology teams throughout the different GE businesses that are collaborating to build GE’s Smart Grid solutions to see our Smart Grid labs recognized. Our two labs, one based at GE’s R&D headquarters in Upstate NY, and the other at our Energy facility in Melbourne, FL, are working to integrate technologies that truly span the energy infrastructure in a complete way, from conventional and renewable generation sources, through the transmission and distribution infrastructure, and all the way into the home. Imagine this – in a single room, each of these labs is simulating the entire grid network, from power plants all the way into the home. You won’t find any other industrial labs in the world with such a broad perspective.

GE is positioned to be a technical and commercial leader in the transformation of the electricity delivery infrastructure. In the same way that we helped to build the modern electric grid city by city, we are now leading the way to re-invent the grid all over again to enhance reliability, productivity, environmental footprint, and consumer choices.

It’s an exciting time to be a technologist in this space. We are where we most like to be … at the center of it all.

Arc flash is an explosion that occurs when the electrical resistance of air breaks down, connecting conductors with an arc of hot plasma. The developed technology uses ionized gas to transfer the open arc into a contained electrical system in a short time duration protecting personnel working in vicinity and electrical system.

If you are interested in reading more about this technology I would recommend checking out this IEEE Spectrum article titled “New Technology to Trap Killer Sparks” that was originally posted in March 2009.  As well, you could look at the GE Industrial arc flash absorber products page to see a video and read more about the product.