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Google Now Developing Special Mirror for Solar Thermal Power

google solar wheil Google is continuing its drive to make solar power competitive with fossil fuels. The internet giant announced that it is internally testing a new mirror for concentrated solar power plants that could cut the cost of building those plants in half. While Google remains secretive about the details regarding their new technology, its green energy czar Bill Weihl said that if development and testing go as planned, the mirrors could be ready for use in one to three years.

Google has in recent years asserted itself as a major investor in renewable energy, investing $10 million each in Brightsource Energy and eSolar, two budding solar startups. They’ve also begun work on their own solar innovations, including experimentation with unconventional materials for mirror surfaces and the substrates that they’re mounted to.

Although the prototype mirrors are reportedly not ready for external testing, Google says that both Brightsource and eSolar are interested in the technology. “If it works, it would absolutely be something they would use,” said Weihl. Exactly how the new mirrors would cut the cost of solar thermal power in half is unclear, as is how long it will be until we can learn more about the product. Such is the case with so much solar technology, as Google and a host of other solar tech companies scramble to create technologies that will put solar power on par with fossil fuels. But while that technology gestates in the laboratory, it will continue to be a waiting game for those of us on the outside, a game in which Google and its potentially revolutionary mirror are the latest players.

Via CNET

Photo Credit: Financial Post

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