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'World's first' solar-powered rail line opens in the UK
Some trains in the UK are now running on a rail line powered entirely by a solar farm in what's said to be a world first. Around 100 panels are keeping the signaling and lights up and running on the track near Aldershot in Hampshire, and the project could be a precursor to solar-powered trains on the nation's network.
Facebook is financing a massive solar farm in Texas
Facebook is investing heavily in a massive solar farm in Texas as it rumbles towards its goal of running entirely on renewable energy by the end of next year. Renewables company Longroad Energy has started building the Prospero Solar project in Andrews County, Texas.
Puerto Rico governor will discuss Tesla solar systems with Elon Musk
Following hurricanes Irma and Maria, millions of Puerto Rico residents were left without electricity and it's expected to take months for power to be restored. Well one person mused on Twitter whether Elon Musk could help out by rebuilding the island's electricity grid with solar and battery systems and Musk responded that it wasn't out of the realm of possibility.
The world's largest solar farm, from space
Just over two years ago, California's 550-megawatt Topaz Solar Farm was the world's largest solar project. A year later, the 579-megawatt Solar Star farm, also in California, laid claim to the crown, and in 2016, India's 648-megawatt Kamuthi Solar Power Project was top photovoltaic dog. However, China is now the leader of this planet-friendly competition, by far, with the 850-megawatt Longyangxia Dam Solar Park. All told, it can power 200,000 homes at the peak of production.
NC town fears solar farm will 'suck up all the energy from the sun'
The town council of Woodland, North Carolina rejected a rezoning proposal that would have allowed the installation of a new solar farm within its borders. The council had previously approved three other solar farms, which are currently under construction, however wound up voting to reject this proposal after town residents "expressed distrust and fear of the solar panels," according to The Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald.
Amazon hopes to mend its image by backing a giant solar farm
Amazon has a reputation problem. While fellow tech giants like Apple and Yahoo are considered champions of clean energy, Greenpeace and other advocacy groups regularly knock Amazon for running its servers on dirty power (like coal) and saying little about its renewable energy plans. The company is about to burnish its image in a big way, however -- it just announced that it will support the construction of an 80MW solar farm in Virginia, the largest ever in the state. The eco-friendly plant will supply Amazon Web Services data centers (both present and future) on top of the local grid, so your favorite app or website might run on pollution-free computing when the farm is ready around October 2016.
Apple invests in a solar farm that can power 60,000 homes
Apple makes much ado about using clean energy sources to power its buildings these days, and it just put its money where its mouth is... a lot of money. The company is investing a whopping $848 million in a First Solar plant in California's Monterey County that, according to Apple chief Tim Cook, should generate enough electricity to power 60,000 homes. Apple will get a 130-megawatt supply from the solar farm to light up buildings such as its future spaceship-like campus, while the remaining 150 megawatts will go to Pacific Gas & Energy's grid. Reportedly, this is the largest commercial deal to date in the solar industry -- it certainly eclipses many of the other green energy initiatives we've seen in tech, which tend to "only" require tens of megawatts.
Visualized: Apple's 20 megawatt solar farm
We've seen Apple's North Carolina data center in various states of undress, but never before have we seen its associated solar farm looking so complete. That sure is a lot of solar panels. We're not all that surprised though, with the intense thirst for energy from the servers that it feeds. In fact, initial reports indicated that -- although impressive -- the solar farm would still only be supplying 60 percent of the sites requirements. No fear though, as the remaining 40 is said to come from other equally eco-friendly sources. We'd be happy with enough to keep our iPad permanently juiced. [Image credit: WCNC-TV]
Apple plans second North Carolina data center, avoids the 'Deep River Blues'
Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina if you're an Apple data center. The Winston-Salem Journal reports that the folks in Cupertino have filed plans with Catawba County officials for a second 21,000 square foot "tactical" data center that will house 11 rooms and carry a $1.9 million price tag. Mechanical permits outline the need for 22 air conditioners and 14 humidifiers alongside fans and heaters for the building that will nestle up to the existing construction. This is, of course, on the same site that will be home to two 20 megawatt photovolatic arrays and a hydrogen fuel cell facility when all is said and done. Here's to hoping the alternative energy-powered construction catches with other tech giants, too. Lookin' at you, Facebook.
Amazon data center guru questions logic of Apple's solar farm
James Hamilton is a former datacenter architect for Microsoft and the current datacenter guy for Amazon. In a recent blog post, he examines solar-powered data centers which he says are "really somewhere between a bad idea and pure marketing, where the environmental impact is purely optical." As you can guess from that statement, he isn't too fond of Apple's solar farm setup in Maiden, North Carolina. Hamilton, on the one hand, applauds Apple for the solar-power installment at its North Carolina datacenter. He notes that the solar farm is the largest commercial deployment in the US at 20 megawatts, and, because of its size, has a "far better chance to work economically than other smaller installments." Though he commends Apple for its efforts, he also questions whether it's a wise move. Despite its size, Hamilton says the solar farm will provide photo voltaic power for only 4% of Apple's total estimated data center consumption. Hamilton notes that Apple cleared 171 acres of land in order to build its solar farm and wonders if this 171-acre parcel of woodlands is worth such a small portion of Apple's power needs? [Via Wired]
Apple expenditures to grow on solar project, new campus
Apple's got incredible amounts of money in the bank, as you probably already know. According to recent financial filings, Apple is about to spend a good bit of it. The company will reportedly spend US$8 billion during the next financial year, which is more than twice what it spend during the last 12 months. A full $900 million of that will go straight to its retail stores. Last year, the company (only?) spent $614 million on retail, so that's a nice improvement. Other areas of spending are a little bit more about company infrastructure, presumably. Apple is moving forward on that brand new "mothership" campus, and presumably no expense will be spared there. The data center down in North Carolina is also set to receive a number of updates, including a rumored "solar farm" to power it. Apple's been growing by leaps and bounds lately, and while money in the bank is always nice, it seems like this upcoming year is going to be one where the company in Cupertino invests a little bit more in itself rather than just cash.
Apple to build a solar farm next to North Carolina data center
Apple is reportedly building a solar farm to provide energy for its North Carolina data center. An erosion permit granted by Catawba County, North Carolina gives Apple permission to transform 171 acres of vacant land across from the data center into a solar farm. The area will be resloped and will include multiple gravel roads that provide access to the solar panels. It's the first step in a larger plan called Project Dolphin Solar Farm A Expanded. Project Dolphin is the codename given to the construction project behind Apple's billion dollar data center. The constucton is in the early stages of planning and very little in known about the farm. Scott Millar, president of the Catawba County Economic Development Corp. and the man who helped bring Apple to the area, was not aware of the solar farm plans. He did not know Apple filed for a permit until the Charlotte Observer brought it to his attention and said he has had "no communication" with Apple about these plans. A building permit which would contain construction details has not been filed. The only people aware of the solar farm are neighbors of the data center who are complaining about smoke from the property. Apple is burning the field to clear it and, according to residents, is producing a thick smoke that blankets the surrounding area. The burning is also driving animals out of their habitat. "I had a snake on my steps," says local resident Zelda Vosburgh, "I've seen rabbits and squirrels everywhere." It's an eco-friendly move for Apple, but don't expect to be able to say the iSun is powering your iCloud anytime soon. Most of this solar power will likely go to the office part of the building, and won't be used to power the servers. Modest estimates suggest the 170 acre solar farm would generate about 24 megawatts of power, which is far below the 40 to 100 megawatts Apple's datacenter is estimated to use. [Via DataCenter Knowledge and The Hickory Record]
Ontario and Samsung seal $6.7 billion renewable energy deal
Need to know how much it would cost you and your town to generate 2,500 megawatts of pure green energy? Your wind and solar farm infrastructure costs will come to 7 billion CAD (just under 6.7 billion in US currency), which includes a 437 million CAD "sweetener" to get Samsung on board. Plenty of curmudgeons have emerged from the woodwork to trash the deal as costing above market prices, but this appears to be the largest venture of its kind, so we're not entirely sure "market prices" exist yet. For its part, Samsung will create 16,000 jobs in the area, 4,000 of them permanent, as it builds toward the stated goal of providing enough energy to fully power 4 percent of Ontario's population. [Thanks, Dan]
SoCal Edison wants to cover California rooftops with solar panels
We've seen a few massive solar farms pop up out west, but it looks like Southern California Edison is taking a different approach: instead of cluttering up the desert, the company plans to build a distributed solar array on the rooftops of commercial buildings throughout SoCal. The plan is to spend $875M over five years to cover about two square miles of rooftop with the panels, which will alleviate stress on the grid by generating around 250 megawatts of juice, as much as a small power plant. That's enough to light up 162,000 homes, but it's still a little short of the record 280-megawatt Solana installation planned in Arizona -- come on, Cali, let's see a little fight.
US' largest solar photovoltaic system flipped on in Nevada
Sure, we've seen monolithic solar farms before, but the 14-megawatt Nellis solar energy system is a beast that stands alone -- for now, at least. As of today, this farm is hailed as America's "largest solar photovoltaic system," but if all goes to plan, Cleantech America will grab those honors when it completes a massive 80-megawatt project in neighboring California. Nevertheless, this system -- which is housed at the Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada -- will reportedly generate "30 million kilowatt-hours of clean electricity annually and supply approximately 25-percent of the total power used at the base, where 12,000 people live and work." Of course, some 140 acres of land have been covered with 72,000 solar panels in order to make it happen, but it's not like anything else is going out there (CES and rabid gambling notwithstanding).[Via MetaEfficient, image courtesy of CleanTech]
California to get world's largest solar farm
Cleantech America, a San Francisco based developer, has launched a project to build the world's largest solar farm, giving this Spanish solar tower a run for its money, as well as insulting the work of countless Tesco engineers and their puny, insignificant solar roof. When completed in 2011, the 80-megawatt spread of solar panels will cover roughly 640 acres and be 17 times the size of the largest US solar farm in existence. The project, which will generate enough power for nearly 21,000 homes, will be sold to the Kings River Conservation District, a public agency that purchases power for 12 cities and two counties in California's Central Valley. The company hopes that a solar farm of this size will be an industry-wide tipping point for energy providers, and will drive the cost of solar energy downward. Meanwhile, Tesco and Spain will be plotting their sublime revenge.
