POUGHKEEPSIE, NY—Linuo Solar Group Co., a Chinese manufacturer of solar panels and water heaters, is investing $100 million to convert an old IBM factory here into its North American headquarters. The company plans to hire up to 1,000 people by 2014.

FREMONT, CA—Before LEDs can be as cost-efficient as incandescent or fluorescent lighting, engineers must solve the problem of “efficiency droop.”

ALBANY, OR—A new factory here will produce super-fine carbon materials that can improve the performance of ultracapacitors, lead-acid batteries and other energy storage devices.

NORTH CHARLESTON, SC—Boeing’s new assembly plant here is getting much of its power from a 2.6-megawatt solar panel array on its roof. The largest rooftop solar installation in the Southeast, the array generates enough power for 250 homes.

FAIRLESS HILLS, PA—Gamesa Technology Corp. completed and shipped its 1,000th nacelle assembled at its factory here.

CHATTANOOGA, TN—Volkswagen’s assembly plant here has become the first automotive manufacturing facility to earn LEED Platinum certification.

KYLE, TX—Image Microsystems plans to build a new factory here to turn electronic waste into substrate material for street and highway signs. The plant could create more than 180 jobs in the next two years.

LOS ALAMOS, NM—Thin-film solar cells could be made far more efficient with the addition of bundles of carbon nanotubes, according to researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory.