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The blissful warmth that caresses the Googleplex and its volleyballing, Crocs-wearing, code-crunching Googlers will power 30 percent of the peak energy consumption at its headquarters through the largest installation of solar panels on any US corporate campus. And it will be bigger than the solar installation used at Microsoft's Mountain View outpost, too.

Google Embraces Solar Power
Corporate solar is coming, rings the announcement on the Official Google blog. Robyn Beavers, Corporate Environmental Programs Manager, wrote that the company selected EI Solutions to deliver the installation.

"The panels will cover the roofs of the four main buildings of the Googleplex, and also those of two additional buildings across the street," Beavers wrote. "There will also be a portion of this installation on new solar panel support structures in a few parking lots."

Matt Marshall at Venture Beat noted that the planned 1.6 megawatt solar energy project "easily exceeds Microsoft's 480-kilowatt solar panel system in Mountain View, unveiled in April, not far Google's campus."

That output would be enough to power 1,000 average California homes. For Google, the solar power will represent an annual savings of an estimated $393,000 each year. EI Solutions said the system would pay for itself in 7.5 years, which puts the price tag in the $3.75 million range.

Construction has been slated to begin in early 2007. EI Solutions has placed a video online to show where the panels will be installed. 9,212 panels built by Sharp Electronics will be used in building Google's solar array.

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David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.