Hey—we've moved. Visit
The Keyword
for all the latest news and stories from Google
Official Blog
Insights from Googlers into our products, technology, and the Google culture
Back to the energy future
21. Januar 2009
In 1979 President Jimmy Carter installed 32 solar hot water panels on the roof of the White House. Recently a Googler from our Washington D.C. office asked the question, "What ever happened to the Carter panels?" After a little digging, we were able to track down the original panels to
Unity College
, an environmental college in Maine, and bring one of them back to Washington D.C.
So what ever happened to the panels? It turns out that during President Reagan's administration the solar hot water panels were removed from the White House in 1986 and placed in storage. In 1992, Unity College located the panels and transferred them from a General Services Administration warehouse to their campus in Maine. After restoration,16 panels provided their cafeteria with hot water for the next 12 years. In cooperation with Unity College, Google was able to bring one of these panels down to our Washington DC office for display throughout the next year.
At the panels' dedication in 1979, Jimmy Carter stated:
"This dependence on foreign sources of oil is of great concern to all of us. In the year 2000, this solar water heater behind me, which is being dedicated today, will still be here supplying cheap, efficient energy. A generation from now, this solar heater can either be a curiosity, a museum piece, an example of a road not taken, or it can be just a small part of one of the greatest and most exciting adventures ever undertaken by the American people." (To watch video of the dedication, check out this
trailer
for a movie about the panels).
As we welcome our new U.S. president to office this week, we wanted to share this piece of this history with you. Google is committed to a
clean energy future
and we hope that you will join us in supporting the creation and adoption of renewable energy technology — what could still be one of the greatest and most exciting adventures for all of us.
Check out these photos of the panels at Unity College and at Google's Washington DC office.
Posted by Alice Ryan, Green Energy Project Manager
Labels
Africa
19
Android
58
April 1
4
Asia
39
Europe
46
Latin America
18
accessibility
41
acquisition
26
ads
131
apps
419
books + book search
48
commerce
12
computing history
7
crisis response
33
culture
12
developers
120
diversity
35
doodles
68
education and research
144
entrepreneurs at Google
14
faster web
16
free expression
61
google.org
73
googleplus
50
googlers and culture
202
green
102
maps and earth
194
mobile
124
online safety
19
open source
19
photos
39
policy and issues
139
politics
71
privacy
66
recruiting and hiring
32
scholarships
31
search
505
search quality
24
search trends
118
security
36
small business
31
user experience and usability
41
youtube and video
140
Archive
2016
Nov.
Okt.
Sept.
Aug.
Juli
Juni
Mai
Apr.
März
Feb.
Jan.
2015
Dez.
Nov.
Okt.
Sept.
Aug.
Juli
Juni
Mai
Apr.
März
Feb.
Jan.
2014
Dez.
Nov.
Okt.
Sept.
Aug.
Juli
Juni
Mai
Apr.
März
Feb.
Jan.
2013
Dez.
Nov.
Okt.
Sept.
Aug.
Juli
Juni
Mai
Apr.
März
Feb.
Jan.
2012
Dez.
Nov.
Okt.
Sept.
Aug.
Juli
Juni
Mai
Apr.
März
Feb.
Jan.
2011
Dez.
Nov.
Okt.
Sept.
Aug.
Juli
Juni
Mai
Apr.
März
Feb.
Jan.
2010
Dez.
Nov.
Okt.
Sept.
Aug.
Juli
Juni
Mai
Apr.
März
Feb.
Jan.
2009
Dez.
Nov.
Okt.
Sept.
Aug.
Juli
Juni
Mai
Apr.
März
Feb.
Jan.
2008
Dez.
Nov.
Okt.
Sept.
Aug.
Juli
Juni
Mai
Apr.
März
Feb.
Jan.
2007
Dez.
Nov.
Okt.
Sept.
Aug.
Juli
Juni
Mai
Apr.
März
Feb.
Jan.
2006
Dez.
Nov.
Okt.
Sept.
Aug.
Juli
Juni
Mai
Apr.
März
Feb.
Jan.
2005
Dez.
Nov.
Okt.
Sept.
Aug.
Juli
Juni
Mai
Apr.
März
Feb.
Jan.
2004
Dez.
Nov.
Okt.
Sept.
Aug.
Juli
Juni
Mai
Apr.
Feed
Google
on
Follow @google
Follow
Give us feedback in our
Product Forums
.
Follow
