'Googleplex' to run on sun

Andrew Beebe of EI Solutions and David Radcliffe

The company announced Oct. 16 that it will soon begin installation of a 1.6-megawatt photovoltaic (PV) system at its 1 million-square-foot Mountain View campus. The project, expected to be the largest solar installation on any corporate campus in the United States, would offset about 30 percent of it headquarters’ daily peak electricity consumption.

Google is partnering with San Rafael, Calif.-based EI Solutions to plan and implement the project, which is expected to pay for itself in five to 10 years. David Radcliffe, vice president for real estate at Google, says the company is also in the process of performing energy- and water-efficiency upgrades at its Mountain View “Googleplex.”

The announcement of Google’s PV installation coincides with the buzz surrounding Google.org, the company’s new philanthropic arm [see “Google searches for social returns,” Sustainable Industries,, Nov. 2006]. The for-profit entity intends to help drive the development of renewable energy and other environmental technologies.

Earlier this year, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) gained a step on Google by installing a 480-kilowatt solar system at its research site in Mountain View. It was the first PV system at any Microsoft office building.