Google's panels are online
June 19, 2007 9:32 PM Subscribe
Google went solar yesterday! Google's PV solar system went live yesterday (or at least the stats page did.) Also, they converted 100 Priuses to plug-in electric vehicles, to be recharged by the PV solar panels. Pictures.
"don't be evil."
"you're evil. you keep people's search info forever, you helped china lock down its internet and your primary revenue stream is an opaque model inextricably associated with click fraud."
"oh, but we're green! see how green we are?"
posted by bruce at 10:44 PM on June 19, 2007
"you're evil. you keep people's search info forever, you helped china lock down its internet and your primary revenue stream is an opaque model inextricably associated with click fraud."
"oh, but we're green! see how green we are?"
posted by bruce at 10:44 PM on June 19, 2007
maybe S&L are just so guilty about all that privacy issues and all the chinese orphans they are torturing that they need to do this stuff in order to sleep at night.
seriously, i just thought the stats gathering on the non-PHEV prius and PHEV prius was pretty interesting, plus their PV power output page is pretty cool.
posted by joeblough at 10:54 PM on June 19, 2007
seriously, i just thought the stats gathering on the non-PHEV prius and PHEV prius was pretty interesting, plus their PV power output page is pretty cool.
posted by joeblough at 10:54 PM on June 19, 2007
You've found them out, bruce. But, the Cult of Googlhu will never die till the stars come right again and the priests will take great Googlhu from His tomb to revive His subjects and resume His rule on Earth. The time will be easy to know, for mankind will have become as the Great Old Ones; free and wild and beyond good and evil, with laws and morals thrown aside and all men shouting and killing and reveling in environmentalism.
posted by stavrogin at 11:45 PM on June 19, 2007 [2 favorites]
posted by stavrogin at 11:45 PM on June 19, 2007 [2 favorites]
huh. I wondered why a friend at google sold his car a couple weeks ago and then had a picture of a prius in his photostream. I guess he got one of the recharge cars.
Plug-in hybrids are great, hopefully the costs come down on it someday though. Maybe this Google project will go towards that. I'd totally pay an extra $5k to convert to plug-in, but not $20k or whatever the kits are going for now.
posted by mathowie at 12:05 AM on June 20, 2007
Plug-in hybrids are great, hopefully the costs come down on it someday though. Maybe this Google project will go towards that. I'd totally pay an extra $5k to convert to plug-in, but not $20k or whatever the kits are going for now.
posted by mathowie at 12:05 AM on June 20, 2007
Oh, we're anti-Google now? I can't keep up with all the memos.
posted by kbanas at 5:11 AM on June 20, 2007 [3 favorites]
posted by kbanas at 5:11 AM on June 20, 2007 [3 favorites]
...your primary revenue stream is an opaque model inextricably associated with click fraud.
Wha? I thought their primary revenue streams were:
a) Ads, which show up in a separate, designated area both on their site and on other sites.
b) Specialized search hardware/software for intranets and suchlike.
posted by DU at 5:19 AM on June 20, 2007
Wha? I thought their primary revenue streams were:
a) Ads, which show up in a separate, designated area both on their site and on other sites.
b) Specialized search hardware/software for intranets and suchlike.
posted by DU at 5:19 AM on June 20, 2007
If Google is evil, then what word would you use to describe Microsoft? ... Philip Morris? Dow Chemical? Lockheed Martin? Halliburton?
If privacy is a concern, use a proxy.
Anyway, i hope Google's evil plan to go green catches on!
posted by TechnoLustLuddite at 6:29 AM on June 20, 2007 [1 favorite]
If privacy is a concern, use a proxy.
Anyway, i hope Google's evil plan to go green catches on!
posted by TechnoLustLuddite at 6:29 AM on June 20, 2007 [1 favorite]
Anyway, i hope Google's evil plan to go green catches on!
It's not really green. More energy goes into the making of the solar photovoltaic solar panels than will ever be harvested from them. Not to mention the messy chemical byproducts of solar cell production.
posted by Doohickie at 6:56 AM on June 20, 2007
It's not really green. More energy goes into the making of the solar photovoltaic solar panels than will ever be harvested from them. Not to mention the messy chemical byproducts of solar cell production.
posted by Doohickie at 6:56 AM on June 20, 2007
Oops... delete either the first or second solar from that. I care not which one.
posted by Doohickie at 6:57 AM on June 20, 2007
posted by Doohickie at 6:57 AM on June 20, 2007
Doohickie, I've never heard that and find it hard to belive, do you have a reference?
posted by octothorpe at 6:59 AM on June 20, 2007
posted by octothorpe at 6:59 AM on June 20, 2007
Doohickie, according to the DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, photovoltaic cells will provide a net gain of energy for 26 to 29 years (pdf) of an assumed 30-year life span.
posted by zennie at 7:11 AM on June 20, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by zennie at 7:11 AM on June 20, 2007 [1 favorite]
More energy goes into the making of the solar photovoltaic solar panels than will ever be harvested from them.
I have heard this sorry pseudo stat rolled out on many previous occasions, also for wind, nuclear, etc. I'm sure Doohickie will happily withdraw it or come up with a peer reviewed write-up that refutes zennie though.
posted by biffa at 7:16 AM on June 20, 2007
I have heard this sorry pseudo stat rolled out on many previous occasions, also for wind, nuclear, etc. I'm sure Doohickie will happily withdraw it or come up with a peer reviewed write-up that refutes zennie though.
posted by biffa at 7:16 AM on June 20, 2007
More energy goes into the making of the solar photovoltaic solar panels than will ever be harvested from them.
False statement.
posted by DU at 7:16 AM on June 20, 2007
False statement.
posted by DU at 7:16 AM on June 20, 2007
correction: after clicking around it seems that they have only converted 2 cars, but plan to do 100. oh well.
posted by joeblough at 7:55 AM on June 20, 2007
posted by joeblough at 7:55 AM on June 20, 2007
aaaand... correction to my correction:
nytimes.com story
posted by joeblough at 8:49 AM on June 20, 2007
nytimes.com story
posted by joeblough at 8:49 AM on June 20, 2007
This is very interesting. I'm wondering if the rooftop of one of those Sun Blackbox shipping container data center were covered in solar panels, would that be enough to power the entire data center?
That would be an interesting way to provide fully advanced information and communications technology to a place that had no infrastructure...
posted by Pastabagel at 11:27 AM on June 20, 2007
That would be an interesting way to provide fully advanced information and communications technology to a place that had no infrastructure...
posted by Pastabagel at 11:27 AM on June 20, 2007
blackbox is 20'x8'x8', so the area of the roof is 160 square feet. i've read that solar gives you about 10W per square foot, so we're probably only talking about 1-1.5KW for that area, peak.
a fully loaded blackbox is designed to handle 200KW worth of equipment, and don't forget it needs cooling as well. its probably 400-500KW for the whole package...
posted by joeblough at 12:57 PM on June 20, 2007
a fully loaded blackbox is designed to handle 200KW worth of equipment, and don't forget it needs cooling as well. its probably 400-500KW for the whole package...
posted by joeblough at 12:57 PM on June 20, 2007
The Sun Blackbox needs 500 kilowatts and solar panels give maybe 10-20 watts per sq-ft. The Blackbox is a 20' container with about a 160 sq ft roof which would only give 3KW - enough to boil a kettle.
I wonder what the initial cost of Google's solar panels were (which seemed to cover every available space on their roof), and how long it'll take to recoup that.
posted by JonB at 1:05 PM on June 20, 2007
I wonder what the initial cost of Google's solar panels were (which seemed to cover every available space on their roof), and how long it'll take to recoup that.
posted by JonB at 1:05 PM on June 20, 2007
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posted by joeblough at 9:36 PM on June 19, 2007