Solar Power Services for Data Centers
Apple Building Solar Array for Power Services for Data Centers
Apple is in the early stages of installing an array of solar panels in Maiden, North Carolina.
This North Carolina location is a large parcel of land Apple is clearing for its new data center, according to documents filed in Catawba County. Apple is in the process of clearing trees from 171 acres of land across from its 500,000 square foot iDataCenter.
The decision to build this solar power generation is mixed. Apple’s data center would have a “green” aspect to it, while local residents are complaining about smoke form fires to burn off cleared trees and debris on the Apple property.
While there are few details publically available about Apple’s specific plans for the solar array, it was referenced in an application for a soil erosion permit filed with the county. Apple has not yet submitted any additional plains for additional work at the site.
Solar Power Services for Data Centers
If the reports are correct, Apple will join an increasing number of companies utilizing solar power services for data centers and building on-site solar arrays to supplement their use of more traditional utility power services for data centers. Most companies have also used solar energy to support office areas as opposed to data centers. In general, solar power has not been used widely in data centers since it requires large installation of photovoltaic (PV) solar panels to produce even a small amount of energy required for power services for data centers. On average, it takes approximately seven acres of photovoltaic panels to generate one megawatt of power. If Apple uses the entire 170 parcel of land with solar panels, it could generate up to 24 megawatts of power. Estimates of power used for the Apple data center average from 40 megawatts to 100 megawatts.
The largest current project to incorporate solar energy into a data center is at The McGraw-Hill Companies. They are building a 50-acre solar array in East Windsor, New Jersey that will yield 14 megawatts of solar power generation.
While budget issues still remain when it comes to the use of solar power services for data centers, data centers managers are recognizing the value of solar arrays as a way to show the IT community’s commitment to long-term sustainability. Solar installation can also be found at new data centers for Cisco in Texas and for Facebook and BendBroadband in Oregon.
The environmental group Greenpeace has identified Apple as the leading offender when it comes to using energy from “dirty sources” to power its data centers. Greenpeace defines dirty sources as coal and nuclear power. This is based on the power services for data centers from Duke Energy, the local utility in Maiden, which sources 52 percent of its energy from nuclear power, 37 percent from fossil fuels, and seven percent from hydro-electric power.
