As data centers grow, there is also an equal demand for power, which has become a pressing issue. Solar power acts as a clean and renewable data center power source that reduces dependence on the commercial power grid.
Wholesale colocation facility Lifeline Data Centers is installing a utility-grade 4 megawatt solar power array at its Eastgate data center campus in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Lifeline Data Centers will begin replacing its traditional utility power consumption with a solar power array installation in the next few months and will be fully implemented and functional by April 2014.
Lifeline offers colocation through two data centers in Indianapolis, with customers covering healthcare, utilities, life sciences, cloud computing, government and software verticals. The company has maintained an ongoing interest in solar power and has investigated several options for installing a large array of solar panels.
Through a long-term partner relationship with Indianapolis Power & Light and New Generation Power of Chicago, Lifeline Data Centers will now provide enough power to sustain its data centers over the next 25 years.
The company is planning to install the solar panels on the Eastgate campus building rooftops and above several sections of the parking lot.
"I am very proud that Lifeline Data Centers is one of the first large independent data center facilities in the country to be largely powered by solar energy," Lifeline co-owner Alex Carroll said in a statement.
The company also said it hopes to eventually have its facilities LEED certified.
Apple (News - Alert) is also another company that has recently powered its main U.S. data center entirely with renewable energy. eBay, Facebook, and Cisco (News - Alert) have also adopted solar power as a clean and renewable data center power source.
Edited by Blaise McNamee