Solar Turbines, a division of heavy-equipment manufacturer Caterpillar, Inc., promises to power the future through innovative energy solutions.
Take the company's Solar Equipment Health Management solution, for example:
"Equipment Health Management (EHM) is Solar’s premier machinery healthcare service program. Powered by our state-of-the-art Insight Platform technology, EHM is a managed, proactive service provided by our Global Technical Support Network".
or its Solar Mobile Turbomachinery:
"Park, plug and play with Solar Turbines’ newest product, Solar Mobile Turbomachinery (SMT). This single trailer design is a complete mobile power plant with wide fuel composition flexibility. The SMT is the best solution for oil field power, remote power and trailer power."
or its Power Generation Modules:
"Perfect for non-hazardous applications, Solar Turbines’ Power Generation Module (PGM) offers a modular concept for gas turbine generator sets, optimized for shorter installation and commissioning times. This solution is compact for easy transportation and reduces overall costs for customers."
"Wait a second," you say. "Gas turbine generator sets? What's solar got to do with it?" It turns out that the only thing solar about a solar turbine is...its name.
That's all.
The marketers at Solar Turbines, Inc. probably thought renewables-minded CEOs seeking clean power solutions might be enticed by the name of their company, and spend $millions on portable power systems with no emissions, ones powered by the sun.
They probably thought renewables activists would be naive enough to embrace the technology as something new, something revolutionary, something that might breathe life into the flatlining potential of renewables to power the world.
And unfortunately, they would likely be right.