真乄科技業的頂尖投資團隊

A home sporting SunPower solar panels  

Google 在「世界地球日」當日宣佈了他們歷來最大宗的可再生能源採購，不過他們隨後又再宣佈了另一宗重大的可再生能源投資，而且這項投資的對象更是普通的消費者。Google 將會跟 SunPower 合作，兩者將投資共 2.5 億美金來採購可以安裝在屋頂的太陽能板，並將它們租給美國的普通消費者使用。兩公司暫時沒有公佈這個計劃的詳情，只表示向他們出租的費用「通常地低於」一個家庭要付的電費。雖然這個計劃的推動是出於環保，不過除了用戶需要有屋頂之外，還是要需要一個確實的定價才能判斷它能不能推而廣之。

Just because Earth Day is over doesn’t mean we’re done doing good things for the planet. Yesterday we announced our biggest renewable energy purchase yet: an agreement with our Iowa utility partners to supply our data center facilities there with up to 407 megawatts of wind energy.

Today, we’re taking another step towards a clean energy future with a major new investment. Together with SunPower Corporation we’re creating a new $250 million fund to help finance the purchase of residential rooftop solar systems—making it easier for thousands of households across the U.S. to go solar. Essentially, this is how it works: Using the fund ($100 million from Google and $150 million from SunPower), we buy the solar panel systems. Then we lease them to homeowners at a cost that’s typically lower than their normal electricity bill. So by participating in this program, you don’t just help the environment—you can also save money.

unPower delivers solar to residential, utility and commercial customers and also manufacturers its own solar cells and panels.They’re known for having high-quality, high reliability panels which can generate up to 50 percent more power per unit area, with guaranteed performance and lower degradation over time. That means that you can install fewer solar panels to get the same amount of energy. And SunPower both makes the panels and manages the installation, so the process is seamless.

This is our 16th renewable energy investment and our third residential rooftop solar investment (the others being with Solar City and Clean Power Finance). Overall we’ve invested more than $1 billion in 16 renewable energy projects around the world, and we’re always on the hunt for new opportunities to make more renewable energy available to more people—Earth Day and every day.

Posted by Rob Parker, Renewable energy team

Source:Google