Google To Go Solar

The system, to be built by EI Solutions, a unit of Energy Innovations Inc., of Pasadena, Calif., will use 9,212 solar panels and have a total capacity of 1.6 megawatts, or enough electricity to supply 1,000 average California homes. That will satisfy 30% of the campus' peak electricity needs, saving the company an estimated $393,000 per year in utility costs or close to $15 million over the 30-year lifespan of its solar system. At this rate, the system will pay for itself in approximately 7.5 years..The installation at Google's headquarters, known as the Googleplex, will begin next month and will be completed in the spring of 2007. It will be the largest solar-power system ever constructed at a U.S. corporate campus and one of the largest on any corporate site in the world, EI Solutions said.

The solar panels, which cover an area equal to about four acres, will be installed on the roofs of some campus buildings and double as shading for cars in parking lots. Most of the panels will be made by Sharp Electronics, a unit of Japan's Sharp Corp.