Google Launches Largest Solar Project

With climate change now an ostensible fact to all but the most staunch nay Sayers, and the cost of fossil fuels steadily increasing as their limited availability becomes more readily apparent, people are turning to renewable energy. One particular renewable energy resource that is turning heads and earning almost universal nods of approval as a viable energy alternative is solar power. Thanks to monumental leaps in the cost and efficiency of this technology, it is now one of the most prominent—if not the most prominent—future resource for renewable energy in the US.

One company that is joining in on the solar revolution in a big way is Google. And we don’t mean that they are simply adding a few solar panels to their offices either. The world’s largest search engine and video sharing entity is bringing solar power to other people on a very large scale.

What amazing thing did Google do this time?

Google (which spent a grand total of $400 million on renewable energy in the US last year alone) recently invested in$168 million into the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generation Station, which is located in the middle of the desert on the border of California and Nevada. The project that developed the Ivanpah power station, which is widely considered to be the largest solar panel project in the world, has resulted in a massive solar power plant that contains 347 thousand software controlled, rotating mirrors, covers 3,500 acres of land and is capable of powering about 140,000 homes.

What makes the Ivanpah power station amazing, however, is not just its scale, but also how it produces electricity. Most electricity suppliers in the US are connected to solar panel systems that deliver electricity directly from the panels themselves; these are known as photovoltaic solar panel systems. While this works, it will not be the most efficient method of transitioning to solar. For many years, fossil fuels and nuclear power plants have been used to superheat water so that it can power turbines that deliver electricity to the masses. The Ivanpah power station emulates this capability with its solar panels; this is known as a solar thermal system. Having more solar panel systems with this capability will make transitioning to solar much easier for many steam powered generators.

Is a solar thermal solar panel system really better than a traditional photovoltaic one?

Not really. As of right now, photovoltaic solar panel systems are much more efficient than solar thermal systems—and this disparity is expected to expand as time passes. The key, however, with solar power stations like the one at Ivanpah will lie in the fact that they will streamline transitions to solar for communities that are heavily invested in coal or natural gas steam turbine power systems. Also, as home solar panel use continues to expand, solar thermal can be combined wih photovoltaic as a home water heating element.

In atypical Google style, the search engine giant is a silent partner. The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generation Station is co-owned by Connecticut electric suppliers Bright Source Energy and DE electricity supplier NRG Energy. The $168 million dollar Google investment was used to supplement the 1.6 billon dollars in federal government loans to fully finance the project.

Google is neither beginning nor ending their efforts to bring more renewable energy to the masses at Ivanpah

The $400 million that Google spent last year on renewable energy in the US went towards a total of six power plants in California and Arizona. This investment makes Google the only massive company outside of the energy industry to make serious investments in our nation’s solar infrastructure outside of their own facilities.

They aren’t stopping there either. Google is also taking solar power straight to peoples’ homes. They are doing so by providing families with solar panel systems in their houses. So far, Google has added solar panels to over 3,000 homes throughout the country.

In total, Google has invested over a billion dollars in renewable energy like solar power.

Google believes that renewable energy in the US can replace fossil fuels very soon. As such, we can expect to see them make many more major investments into solar, wind, hydropower and other safe, efficient and reliable renewable energy resources.

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