Interview: A Software Entrepreneur Makes a Foray Into Green Energy

Bill Gross made his fortune in the Silicon Valley, creating his Idealab business incubator and launching start-ups like GoTo.com. Now Gross has turned his attention to renewable energy, and in a big way. He has founded the electric car company, Aptera, and created Energy Innovations, which is developing advanced photovoltaic technology. But his biggest success to date is eSolar, which builds industrial-scale solar power plants. Using sophisticated software and imaging technology, eSolar deploys tens of thousands of mirrors to focus the sun’s rays on a water-filled boiler that heats steam to create electricity. The company has signed deals to build major solar installations, including one in China that will generate electricity equivalent to the output of two large nuclear power plants. In an interview with Yale Environment 360, Gross discusses the future of solar energy, his relationship with Google, and how to keep solar power from spreading into pristine desert.

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