Apple Backs up Green Promises With New Data Center Solar Farm

From DailyTech: As cloud services become more and more vital to Apple, Inc.'s (AAPL) gadgets -- particularly those of a mobile variety -- the company is adding a great deal of capacity to its U.S. data centers. Its latest addition was a massive data center in Maiden, North Carolina. Current work is focused on building a massive new headquarters in the San Francisco area.

But Apple doesn't want run-of-the-mill data centers. It's looking to build its brand image and potentially capitalize on long term cost savings by financing massive on-site or adjacent alternative energy farms. The new N.C. data center is a standout thus far, with the nation's largest private solar farm in the IT space. The farm produces enough juice to power the equivalent of 17,600 homes on a daily basis -- or roughly 167m kilowatt hours (kWh) annually. Situated on 100 acres of land, the farm uses fuel cells from startup Bloom Energy for storing power to use when the sun isn't shining.

Now Apple has announced similar plans for its Reno, Nevada data center, according to Reuters.

The western data center is currently powered by Sierra Pacific Power Comp. The new solar farm will feed directly into the grid, and is expected to negate 43.5m kWh worth of power use annually.

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