Today California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger dedicated the 2 megawatt
solar power system at the Applied
Materials campus in Sunnyvale, California, one of the largest corporate
solar power installations in the United States. The Governor praised Applied's
work in the solar industry after viewing the extensive parking lot-based solar
array as well as a demonstration of the company's thin film solar technology.
Applied Materials' newly completed solar energy system at their Sunnyvale, Calif. research campus is one of the largest corporate solar power installations in the United States. (Photo: Business Wire)
"Applied Materials is a real California solar success story and they
are demonstrating the potential of turning parking lots throughout the state
into power plants at a time when we need innovative solutions to the growing
energy crisis," said Governor Schwarzenegger. "The panels in the
system were manufactured by a California company on equipment provided by Applied
Materials, another California company, and they take advantage of one of our
state's most famous and abundant resources, the California sun."
"California has the best solar program in the United States thanks to
Governor Schwarzenegger's vision," said Mike Splinter, president
and CEO of Applied Materials. "He has shown great leadership for the adoption
of solar power in California through his Million Solar Roofs Plan and his support
of the California Global Warming Solutions Act (AB32), but we still have a long
way to go as a state and as a country."
The Applied Materials solar system in Sunnyvale incorporates more than 7,000
wafer-based solar panels made by SunPower Corporation using Applied's
Baccini™ Cell Systems, and is capable of generating approximately 2 megawatts
of power each year. The parking lot-mounted system tracks the sun to increase
the efficiency of the panels while also serving as shade for several hundred
employee cars. The solar power system is expected to prevent more than 2,700
tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year, equivalent to the annual carbon
emissions of approximately 450 passenger cars.
"This is the new face of solar power, parking lots becoming power plants
and solar panels incorporated into the middle of our urban landscape,"
continued Splinter. "Solar is a tremendous economic development opportunity
for our state and our country and with the support of leaders like the Governor
we have the opportunity to make solar a truly meaningful part of our energy
supply."
The Governor also viewed a working, SunFab™ thin film solar panel, the
largest commercially-available solar panel in the world. Applied demonstrated
how a single Applied SunFab™ thin film production line, operating at full
capacity, can produce enough panels for an installation the size of Applied's
Sunnyvale system in about eight days. As an example of how manufacturing scale
can change the industry and dramatically increase the availability of solar
panels, Applied also showed how a gigawatt-scale SunFab factory with multiple
production lines could produce the required number of panels in about one day.
For more information about Applied Materials' solar energy system, visit:
http://www.appliedmaterials.com/news/solar_energy_system.html.