Google, as everyone knows by now, plans to install the nation’s largest corporate solar array at its Mountain View headquarters. The rooftop system will produce an estimated 1.6 megawatts of power.
After covering the Googleplex with solar panels, the sun will provide about 30 percent of the campus’ power. As my colleague Michael Copeland points out in his Dawn Patrol blog, Google’s motives are not entirely altruistic. The search giant’s data centers, and those of its competitors at Microsoft and Yahoo, consume an enormous amount of expensive energy. Solar isn’t close to packing the punch needed to power a data center, but the day may not be far off given the money being poured into Silicon Valley solar startups pursuing technological breakthroughs. Look for more on this and Silicon Valley’s solar boom in an upcoming Business 2.0 feature story written by Michael and Tom McNichol for the magazine’s November issue.
Google’s move is good news for the solar biz and Silicon Valley. The question is, are Steve Jobs and Larry Ellison going to sit back and let the Google boys boast about having the biggest array in the Valley? Come on all you tech titans, forget about whose Woodside mansion is more massive or yacht is longer. Show us your panels.
Green Wombat 
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