ADDING MULTIMEDIA Governor Schwarzenegger Showcases California
Solar Solutions at Applied Materials
SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--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 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.
About Applied Materials
Applied Materials Inc. (Nasdaq:AMAT) is the global leader in
Nanomanufacturing Technology™ solutions with
a broad portfolio of innovative equipment, service and software products
for the fabrication of semiconductor chips, flat panel displays, solar
photovoltaic cells, flexible electronics and energy efficient glass. At
Applied Materials, we apply nanomanufacturing technology to improve the
way people live.
