Google Soaks Up the Sun With Its Latest Data Center

It might be winter, but Google and Duke Energy are catching rays in North Carolina with their new solar powered data center. And hopefully they’re wearing some shades, too, as the data center is contracted for a whopping 61 MW of solar power...now that’s a lot of UV.

In fact, Gary Demasi, who oversees data center energy and location strategy at Google, wrote in a recent blog post that the volume of solar power Google’s invested in could power almost 12,000 average U.S. households.

Demasi also wrote that this is the first time that Google has purchased enough solar energy to power one of its data centers, a feat which brings the organization one step closer to its end goal of powering 100 percent of its operations with renewable energy.

But solar powered data centers aren’t necessarily a logical solution for every organization, as it’s safe to presume that it cost Google a fortune. With that said, smaller organizations that are looking for more environmental friendly data center solutions ought to consider simply upgrading their technology.

That is, if network administrators are frustrated by inefficient data center technologies that waste energy thereby creating unnecessary costs, then perhaps they should consider the following solutions:

• All-in-1 PDU which combines three leading technologies into one PDU including HDOT Switched on the PRO2 platform with alternating phase outlets
• Sentry Power Manager which affords network administrators with capabilities such as capacity planning, versatile reporting, power and environmental monitoring, and more

Take a lesson from Google, and put your organization one step closer towards a more efficient and environmentally conscious data center.