Applied Materials Outdoing Google's Solar Project
by EcoGeek.org on 03.23.07
TreeHugger has reported several times on the Googleplex's alternative energy dreams. Those dreams have become a reality with a 1.6 megawatt solar installation that is larger than any other private solar installation in the world. Well, in true silicon valley spirit, Applied Materials is going a few hundred kilowatts further, and working on a 1.9 megawatt solar installation for their California campus.
Though the Google installation was originally planned to be 1.9 megawatts, and the Applied Materials installation has not yet begun, we're excited to see the spirit of corporate dominance applying to solar panels. Applied Materials, however, has an additional incentive...they make the solar panels they'll be installing. CEO Mike Splinter said, “As we pursue our strategy to significantly drive down the overall solar cost-per-watt, we feel it is important to lead through example.”
We're looking forward to seeing their dedication pay off. Applied Materials better hurry up, though. By the time their project is finished, Google could already be adding on to their own. Plus, if Wal-Mart carries through with it's plans, there won't be enough roof space in all of Silicon Valley to catch up.
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Hey, you gotta love those wild and crazy Silicon Valley folks, competing over who's the greenest.
Given that those guys are indeed Silicon Valley crazed programmer type companies, and a bit offbeat, it seems even more impressive that stodgy companies like national grocery chain Safeway and Wells Fargo Bank are also arm-wrestling for green honors.
First, Safeway trumpeted its purchase of an additional 174,000 megawatt-hours of wind energy, making it California’s largest corporate purchaser of green wind energy. Not to be outdone, San Francisco-based Wells Fargo jumped on the stagecoach, er, bandwagon, buying renewable energy certificates to support generating 550,000 megawatt-hours of wind energy.
Now, Wells Fargo boasts that it’s “the largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy in the United States according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.” Nice to see the big guys competing for such a worthy goal!
"corporate dominance"? Hmm - I guess that's treehugger for what the rest of the world calls "competition".
One sign of great change ... when we are fighting to keep up with the Joneses in terms of energy efficiency, conservation, and renewable energy production.
For once, "keeping up with the Joneses" is a good thing. I welcome more being-the-greenest competition.
I wonder why in every picture we see about solar lately we can admire the black surface of the panels.
Until I see a megawatt installation with at least the blue panels, as recently donated by NASA to MIT (TreeHugger article late 2006) with a far higher efficiency than those displayed, we must know that true progress is not possible.
One hand of this body of humanity has the tools and knowledge yet does not pass it on to the other hand...if UFO's (if they exist) would write a "planetary report" about us, it has got to be a very confusing one.
;-)
Now that the blue panels are off the ISS, what are they using now ???
Black Panels:
That was just stock photography, nothing to do with the actual installation. Sorry if it was misleading but there are currently no actual graphics of the installation.
Unfortunately it appears that they funded this project by laying off hundreds of their employees in December.
"if UFO's (if they exist) would write a "planetary report" about us, it has got to be a very confusing one."
There is a small report in some guide or other, along the lines of "Mostly Harmless".