Fed up with a “lack of breakthrough investment ideas,” Google has decided to extend its reach into the solar industry. So far, Google has invested in two solar thermal companies, eSolar and BrightSource, and installed solar electric systems at its headquarters in California. But evidently, that’s no longer good enough.

Google energy czar Bill Weihl told Reuters that he was “a little bit discouraged” by the lack of funding going into the early stages of new solar developments. So Google is going to invest in some of its own. The Internet giant will start with two new innovations: a new mirror (including the substrate it would be mounted on) for solar thermal systems and a gas turbine that would run on solar energy.

The primary goal is to cut costs. According to Weihl, solar thermal power is running at between $2.50 and $4.00 per watt in capital costs. He wants to see that cut at least in half, preferably down to 25 percent. At existing costs, “a 250 megawatt installation,” notes Weihl, “would be $600 million to $1 billion. It’s a lot of money.” Google plans to have viable mirror technology ready for testing in its own labs within the next few months. The gas turbines that would instead run on solar power are another story – two to three years from fruition – but they are hoping to produce a turbine that will generate electricity at about five cents per kilowatt-hour.

Google has certainly proven itself successful with internet technology. But a foray into solar development and production is a entirely new ballpark. The idea certainly has its skeptics. It’s quite a leap for a search engine to jump into research and development of cutting-edge technology like solar power. Obviously, Bill Weihl and the corporate prodigies at Google believe they are onto something. Or maybe they’re just fed up with investing so much for so little payoff. Whatever the case may be, I’ll root for Google the same as I root for any potential solar breakthrough… with two fingers crossed.

Source: Reuters
Photo Credit: Cal ITIT

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Posted on September 21st in Solar Information by Dan.