This is Apple’s new data centre in Maiden, North Carolina. Unlike most power-hungry centres, this won’t be gobbling up energy from the grid: it’s going to be powered by the sun. If you can’t get your products made 100 per cent ethically, at least you can try to be eco-friendly, right?
In fact, the building actually has two power sources: a giant 100-acre, 20-megawatt solar array on the surrounding land, which will be joined later this year by a five-megawatt fuel cell system. Apple claims that the fuel cell system is the largest non-utility installation in the world. When you’re rich, you can do that kind of thing.
All told, the plant will generate between 42 and 40 kilowatt hours of power every year: enough power for about 7400 American homes. [Apple]