Google Ends Renewable Energy Research Program

First Heliostats to be installed at the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System in California

Online search engine giant Google Inc. recently announced it is ending its renewable energy research program.

Launched in 2007 the Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal (RE<C) initiative's mandate was to bring the cost of renewable energy down, mainly solar power,  to compete with the cost of coal-fired generation. To do this Google created a research group and invested in companies like concentrated solar power developers  BrightSource Energy and eSolar.

The research group focused on "reducing the costs associated with heliostats, and reducing the cost and water consumption of the system."    It seems that for the four years RE>C was active the program did help advance CSP technology. BrightSource's 392 MW Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System is well on its way of becoming the largest solar power tower project. The solar developer announced earlier this month that the first of 173,000 mirrors were installed. This followed an April announcement that the project had closed financing, which included a $168 million investment from Google. Google Senior Vice President, Operations Urs Hölzle said the company will continue investing in renewable energy technologies but in terms of researching CSP the internet powerhouse is passing the boton.

"At this point, other institutions are better positioned than Google to take this research to the next level," said Hölzle. Its website further states that though the company feels "power tower technology has come a long way, the installed cost of solar photovoltaic technology has declined dramatically over the past few years, making solar photovoltaic (PV) technology a compelling choice for consumers."  The later part of this statement suggests that Google may be losing confidence in the technology's ability to compete with the solar PV market.

This seems to be a growing and consistent sentiment in the U.S. solar market - it has been a trying six months for CSP technology. In August, Solar Trust of America, said it was changing technologies from CSP to PV for its multi-billion dollar Blythe Solar installation in California. One month later Arizona-based CSP developer Stirling Energy Systems Inc. filed for bankruptcy which was followed weeks later by German-based CSP developer Solar Millennium selling its entire 2.25 GW U.S. solar project portfolio saying that it would return to the U.S. market place "as a project partner as soon as the U.S. demand for storable solar energy starts growing again".

Shortly after Solar Millennium's exit from the U.S. CSP market the Department of Energy said it will make $60 million available to support the advancement of CSP technology. The funds will be made available to an estimated 20 to 22 projects that seek to further the design of technologies used in CSP systems. The DOE has vetted interest in the success of solar thermal systems. The Department backed the Ivanpah project with a $1.6 billion loan guarantee. This almost triples the size of the loan guarantee the DOE finalized for now bankrupt solar developer Solyndra.

For Google, the end of RE>C does not seem like a failure as much as it does a clear business choice to not invest more money in technology that may have a long way to go before it is competitive in the market. RE>C was one of several Google programs that met their end by making the company's "More spring cleaning out of season" list.

Image Credit: BrightSource