Tellingly, about two-thirds of bids for solar energy contracts last year (by electricity generated) were for photovoltaic projects and only a third were for solar thermalpower plants, which deploy vast arrays of mirrors to heat liquids and produce steam to drive an electricity-generating turbine.
Google has invested directly in renewable energy projects, such as the 370-megawatt Ivanpah solar thermalpower plant now under construction in California.
It is developing giant off-shore wind turbines, biomass power plants (including projects in Florida and Washington with Duke Energy), and, with its Ausra acquisition, solar thermalpower plants.