In this week’s news round-up, we discuss Google’s recent installation of solar shingles at its Silicon valley campus, and a recent update in electric vehicle availability.
Google installs SunStyle solar shingles on new buildings
Google recently installed roughly 90,000 individual solar shingles on two of its newest buildings at its Silicon valley campus. These shingles will account for roughly 40 percent of the building’s electricity usage and have an efficiency rating of 17 percent when installed. The shingles are nicknamed “dragon scale” for their overlapping pattern when installed and are manufactured by European solar panel company SunStyle, which has recently expanded its sales and operations into North America. Google has also released drone footage of the new building, which you can access here.
Hertz adds 100,000 Tesla model 3 vehicles to its fleet
Earlier this week car rental giant Hertz announced that it would be adding 100,000 Tesla vehicles to its fleet as a part of its goal to increase the number of electric vehicle options in its fleet. Half of these vehicles would be available to renters using Hertz, and the other half are a part of an arrangement for Hertz to supply vehicles for rent to Uber drivers. Hertz CEO Mark Fields confirmed that the rental agreement with Tesla could grow to include 150,000 vehicles over the next three years. Fields also confirmed that the Tesla vehicles supplied to Uber would not include Tesla’s Full Self Driving package.
