Apple’s giant data center in Maiden, North Carolina, is getting a little greener thanks to the company’s plan to add a solar power system to the facility. The solar farm will reduce Apple’s reliance on the local power grid, although details are slim so there isn’t any indication yet as to how big the system will be once completed.
Apple’s North Carolina data center
Apple has been granted permits to change the slope on parts of a 171 acre lot it owns next to the server facility, although it doesn’t include any details about the size of the solar farm, how much electricity it is expected to produce, and whether or not Apple plans to completely self-power the data center. That information will, however, eventually turn up when Apple applies for a building permit for the solar farm.
Apple began construction on its North Carolina data center in 2009, and was immediately shrouded in mystery because the company didn’t say exactly what it had in store for the facility.
The company still hasn’t confirmed what the data center is used for, although it seems likely that it is handling at least part of the workload for Apple’s Siri voice command system for the iPhone 4S, along with other iCloud-related services.
[Thanks to the Charlotte Observer for the heads up.]