Solar Energy Investments a change for Google Commercial Strategy?
Monday, 9 May 2011
It had been just one or two years back that investing in solar technology or sustainable energy was considered a risky or perhaps odd. In recent times oil prices are reaching high levels as a result of global conflicts. The un-environmentally friendly nature of fossil fuels along with the carbon emissions they produce means this may not be a clean and sustainable method of obtaining energy.
Nuclear energy continues to be considered as an alternative choice to non-renewable fuels however the recent tragedy in Japan causing a melt down in the nuclear plant has put questions on the safety with this. Nuclear energy carries a legacy of needing to handle the nuclear waste that usually must be buried for years and years, so possesses its own issues as a possible power source.
The internet search engine, Google, has been increasing its buying of companies within it's brand buy investments into solar energy. The company's co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page (as well as brother Carl Page) have invested in a firm called Nanosolar, which makes a speciality of thin-film solar cells. This innovative solar product is actually a reason behind the investment because of its future potential.
The thin-film solar cells can be less efficient in harvesting the sun's energy than traditional solar cells. There is a much greater possibility for this type of solar panel as these solar cells can be printed on to an array of different materials from sheets of plastic, which can then be transparently integrated into roofs, walls and other surfaces. Thus, more surface area can be covered. Traditional solar cells are as decorative as a satellite dish.
Google made a first investment of about $5 million in the German solar powered energy park. This is to develop a whole new solar facility in close proximity to Berlin, Germany. The solar technology park is approximately 116 acres in size and may become among the largest in Germany generating around 16.65 mega watts of energy, enough to power around 5000 homes.
Google is to invest almost $170 million in the large new solar power plant within the Mojave Desert. The kind of solar planet is innovative and called BrightSource Energy. Its "Ivanpah" solar electric generating system, works on the number of mirrors to mirror the suns energy to the solar tower. The electricity generated by all three plants is sufficient to serve greater than 140,000 homes in California through the prime time of the day
Committing to solar panel technology is a step out of the norm for Google. Its more major acquisitions prior to now have a tendency to fit more with the online markets it are operating in including much talked about sites for example Youtube,com. Could this be among the first indications of Google flexing its corporate muscle and investing for ethical reasons or constructing a business empire less reliant on online technologies and advertising?
About the Author:
Ian. Richardson is an expert on solar pv in Scotland and renewable and wind energy.
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It had been just one or two years back that investing in solar technology or sustainable energy was considered a risky or perhaps odd. In recent times oil prices are reaching high levels as a result of global conflicts. The un-environmentally friendly nature of fossil fuels along with the carbon emissions they produce means this may not be a clean and sustainable method of obtaining energy.
Nuclear energy continues to be considered as an alternative choice to non-renewable fuels however the recent tragedy in Japan causing a melt down in the nuclear plant has put questions on the safety with this. Nuclear energy carries a legacy of needing to handle the nuclear waste that usually must be buried for years and years, so possesses its own issues as a possible power source.
The internet search engine, Google, has been increasing its buying of companies within it's brand buy investments into solar energy. The company's co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page (as well as brother Carl Page) have invested in a firm called Nanosolar, which makes a speciality of thin-film solar cells. This innovative solar product is actually a reason behind the investment because of its future potential.
The thin-film solar cells can be less efficient in harvesting the sun's energy than traditional solar cells. There is a much greater possibility for this type of solar panel as these solar cells can be printed on to an array of different materials from sheets of plastic, which can then be transparently integrated into roofs, walls and other surfaces. Thus, more surface area can be covered. Traditional solar cells are as decorative as a satellite dish.
Google made a first investment of about $5 million in the German solar powered energy park. This is to develop a whole new solar facility in close proximity to Berlin, Germany. The solar technology park is approximately 116 acres in size and may become among the largest in Germany generating around 16.65 mega watts of energy, enough to power around 5000 homes.
Google is to invest almost $170 million in the large new solar power plant within the Mojave Desert. The kind of solar planet is innovative and called BrightSource Energy. Its "Ivanpah" solar electric generating system, works on the number of mirrors to mirror the suns energy to the solar tower. The electricity generated by all three plants is sufficient to serve greater than 140,000 homes in California through the prime time of the day
Committing to solar panel technology is a step out of the norm for Google. Its more major acquisitions prior to now have a tendency to fit more with the online markets it are operating in including much talked about sites for example Youtube,com. Could this be among the first indications of Google flexing its corporate muscle and investing for ethical reasons or constructing a business empire less reliant on online technologies and advertising?
Nuclear energy continues to be considered as an alternative choice to non-renewable fuels however the recent tragedy in Japan causing a melt down in the nuclear plant has put questions on the safety with this. Nuclear energy carries a legacy of needing to handle the nuclear waste that usually must be buried for years and years, so possesses its own issues as a possible power source.
The internet search engine, Google, has been increasing its buying of companies within it's brand buy investments into solar energy. The company's co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page (as well as brother Carl Page) have invested in a firm called Nanosolar, which makes a speciality of thin-film solar cells. This innovative solar product is actually a reason behind the investment because of its future potential.
The thin-film solar cells can be less efficient in harvesting the sun's energy than traditional solar cells. There is a much greater possibility for this type of solar panel as these solar cells can be printed on to an array of different materials from sheets of plastic, which can then be transparently integrated into roofs, walls and other surfaces. Thus, more surface area can be covered. Traditional solar cells are as decorative as a satellite dish.
Google made a first investment of about $5 million in the German solar powered energy park. This is to develop a whole new solar facility in close proximity to Berlin, Germany. The solar technology park is approximately 116 acres in size and may become among the largest in Germany generating around 16.65 mega watts of energy, enough to power around 5000 homes.
Google is to invest almost $170 million in the large new solar power plant within the Mojave Desert. The kind of solar planet is innovative and called BrightSource Energy. Its "Ivanpah" solar electric generating system, works on the number of mirrors to mirror the suns energy to the solar tower. The electricity generated by all three plants is sufficient to serve greater than 140,000 homes in California through the prime time of the day
Committing to solar panel technology is a step out of the norm for Google. Its more major acquisitions prior to now have a tendency to fit more with the online markets it are operating in including much talked about sites for example Youtube,com. Could this be among the first indications of Google flexing its corporate muscle and investing for ethical reasons or constructing a business empire less reliant on online technologies and advertising?
About the Author:
Ian. Richardson is an expert on solar pv in Scotland and renewable and wind energy.
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