Google Inc has developed a prototype for a new mirror technology that could cut by half the cost of building a solar thermal plant, the company's green energy czar said on Friday.
Bill Weihl said that if development and testing go well, he could see the product being ready in one to three years.
"Things have progressed," Weihl said in an interview. "We have an internal prototype."
Google has been looking at unusual materials for the mirror's reflective surface and the substrate on which the mirror is mounted.
In solar thermal technology, the sun's energy is used to heat a substance that produces steam to run a turbine. Mirrors focus the sun's rays on the heated substance.
The Internet search engine company, which has been investing in companies and doing research of its own to produce affordable renewable energy, wants to cut the cost of making heliostats, the fields of mirrors that track the sun....MORE
Monday, March 1, 2010
"Exclusive: Google develops prototype mirror for solar energy" (GOOG)
From Reuters:
