Bill Gross

Bill Gross (Feb. 2003)
Bill Gross on new energy

Talks about his dream to convert solar energy at a practical cost. His pursuit to capitalize on a pending California energy crisis in 2000 by building something that could give people back-up energy in case the energy crisis occurred. Demonstrates his "sunflower" collector design and explains that the ROI for most solar collecting systems is decades where as his hope is that his final design brings that down to @ 5 years. Revisiting old ideas, even discarded ideas, in a new light by applying new technologies, may result in practical results.



I found this talk very interesting. While I am ignorant regarding most of the technical explanations and references, there were times when they were brought into "laymen's" terms. The most interesting fact that I took from this talk and will stay with me, is that the most important catalyst to the creation of the "sunflower" collector design is the use of a genetic algorithm. Using what is found in nature and giving it a twist in the process of seeking improved technological solutions just makes sense.

Three links associated with the individual or talk:
Idealab

Link to 'Idealab', the company Bill Gross founded in March 1996 to create and build successful businesses that capitalize on innovations in areas with significant growth opportunities, including the Internet. Multiple links to interesting facts about the company. Particularly liked the 'Introduction' and 'Inside the Lab' sections.

Energy Innovations Home



Link to 'energyinnovations', which was also founded by Bill Gross based on an original concept developed at Idealab. Also with multiple links to interesting facts about the company. Hard sell on the 'Sunflower' HCPV with it being the main focus on sceen #1.

Vesta l Wind. It means the world to us. l Frontpage

Link to 'vestas', which relates to the talk in that there was a comparison made between solar and wind energy ROI, so I wanted to see statistically how the biggest local wind energy company rated. After searching for a time, I couldn't locate this data on the website. What I did find was, that for residential locations, it takes around 5 to 8 years for a return on investment.