How do I love Google? Let me count the rays...

Check out this blurb from the Google Solar Panel Project website:

In October 2006, Google announced a commitment to solar energy production and launched the largest solar panel installation to date on a corporate campus in the United States. Google has installed over 90% of the 9,212 solar panels that comprise the 1,600 kilowatt project. Panels cover the rooftops of eight buildings and two newly constructed solar carports at the Googleplex.

The company that makes the simplest search, online versions of word and excel, and even free wireless internet keeps on impressing me. Just wait; it gets better.

(from Keetsa) Google.org – the philanthropic arm of Google, Inc. – put $10 million towards promoting plug-in hybrid cars. Plug-in hybrids let you charge up the car by plugging in (to, oh let's say, a 1.6 megawatt oil- and coal-free solar panel array) or any electrical outlet. Then, the first 50 or so miles per day are all electric. You might not use gasoline at all during the week if your commute is 25 miles or less.

On the weekend you decide to take a road trip. The first 50 miles are still electric, and then you switch to gas and you've got a regular gasoline car for the rest of the trip. The end result is a car that gets about 75 mpg with about 70% fewer CO2 emissions than your average car in America.

Anyway, check out the site. It's more than a little late to say "this is a company to watch," but imagine what's in store for them, and for us...

link: Google.org's RechargeIT project
link: Google's Solar Panel Project