eSolar receives investment for pre-fabricated power plants

April 23, 2008
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eSolar
has announced that it has closed $130 million in funding from
Google.org, Idealab and Oak Investment Partners, among others. The
thermal power plant manufacturer aims to begin construction and
deployment of pre-fabricated power plants that achieve economies of
scale at 33MW.

The new plan was formulated to address the need for rapid deployment and scalability in the installation of a power plant. eSolar proposes a modular pre-fabricated design to avoid the pitfalls of typical utility-scale plant installations that tend to incur huge construction costs and involve massive tracts of land.

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Utilizing computing and algorithmic technology, eSolar plans to use a modular approach to the traditional problems faced in large utility-scale projects, and in the process reduce the company’s carbon footprint by minimizing land requirements and the duration of the construction process.

“eSolar’s primary business goal is nothing short of making solar electricity for less than the price of coal, without subsidies,” said eSolar Chairman and Founder of Idealab Bill Gross. “This is not only attainable, but will truly change the world.”

By Síle Mc Mahon 

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