"We've been looking at very unusual materials for the mirrors both for the reflective surface as well as the substrate that the mirror is mounted on," the company's green energy czar Bill Weihl told Reuters Global Climate and Alternative Energy Summit in San Francisco on Wednesday.
Weihl said Google is looking to cut the cost of making heliostats, the fields of mirrors that have to track the sun, by at least a factor of two, "ideally a factor of three or four."
"Typically what we're seeing is $2.50 to $4 a watt (for) capital cost," Weihl said. "So a 250 megawatt installation would be $600 million to a $1 billion. It's a lot of money."
Another technology that Google is working on is gas turbines that would run on solar power rather than natural gas, an idea that has the potential of further cutting the cost of electricity, Weihl said.
"In two to three years we could be demonstrating a significant scale pilot system that would generate a lot of power and would be clearly mass manufacturable at a cost that would give us a levelized cost of electricity that would be in the 5 cents or sub 5 cents a kilowatt hour range," Weihl said.
Google is invested in two solar thermal companies, eSolar and BrightSolar but is not working with these companies in developing the cheaper mirrors or turbines.
Reuters
Solar energy, will be playing a big role in our lives, as it has been playing for eons. Sustainable society is a need if we are to survive as a planet. There are many a facets to solar energy, solar electricity, solar heat and so on. Education is key factor in bringing Solar power to the doorsteps of every house and all people. This site will try to empower you, by bringing new about solar energy, the solar power blog, empoweringsolar. Be powerful! be off the grid. Let Sun Shine On You.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Human/Nature: Artists Respond to a Changing Planet
Can art inspire conservation? Can conservation inspire art? Human/Nature: Artists Respond to a Changing Planet began six years ago in the form of these questions, triggering an unusual collaboration and an extraordinary and circuitous journey. BAM/PFA, in partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD) and the international conservation organization Rare, commissioned eight of the world’s most thoughtful and innovative artists to travel to eight UNESCO-designated World Heritage sites and to create new works of art in response to their travels and experiences there.
UC Berkeley Critic's Choice
UC Berkeley Critic's Choice
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