Google plans largest solar-powered office complex in the U.S.
Google plans a solar-powered electricity system
at its Silicon Valley headquarters that will rank as the largest U.S.
solar-powered corporate office complex, the company said on
Wednesday.
Google plans a solar-powered electricity system at its Silicon Valley headquarters that will rank as the largest U.S. solar-powered corporate office complex, the company said on Wednesday.
The Web search leader said it is set to begin building a rooftop solar-powered generation system at its Mountain View, California, headquarters capable of generating 1.6 megawatts of electricity, or enough to power 1,000 California homes.
“This is the largest customer-owned solar electric system at a corporate site,” said Noah Kaye, director of public affairs at the Solar Energy Industries Association, an industry group based in Washington, D.C.
A Google executive said the company will rely on solar power to supply nearly a third of the electricity consumed by office workers at its roughly one-million-square-foot headquarters. This excludes power consumed by data centers that power many of Google’s Web services worldwide, he said.
Most of the solar panels will sit on the rooftops of office buildings in the Googleplex — the pet name for the site. Others will provide shaded parking as part of newly constructed solar-panel canopies over existing Google car parking lots.
Like they say, “Ain’t nothing wrong with being profitable and Green, too!”
Posted: Tue - October 17, 2006 at 07:01 AM