When people think of green living, chances are, computer data centers aren’t the first thing that comes to mind. But IBM (NYSE:IBM) is changing all that with the installation of a 6,000 sq foot array of solar panels, located in Bangalore, India, that can deliver as much as 575 volts to run a server. The new solar powered
system can run the India based company’s, 50 kilowatts of computer
equipment for approximately 330 days out of the year for about 5 hours a
day.
This bodes well as an alternative power source when Bangalore has
difficulty getting power to all of their customers. In addition, it looks like IBM could
possibly install batteries to store the juice coming in and with a
larger array and plenty of roof capacity, could run the data center
24/7.
The implications of this are huge in terms of how remote parts of the
world could now be connected to the rest of the world using this solar
supplied system. Clients in underdeveloped countries are paying
attention and IBM’s creation has their interest.
IBM plans on packaging what the techs have created and selling it to
these clients sometime next year. In addition to reducing carbon
emissions and the amount of diesel fuel these systems normally take, it
will also take the strain and demand off of the already overworked grids
and give them an alternative source of power for their computer data
centers.
In places where the grid can’t be relied upon exclusively, a backup
diesel-powered generator will still be needed. The biggest impact is
expected to be on countries that, before now, have had no chance of
being connected with the rest of the world due to lack of electrical
supplies. This system is going to change all that.
Image via CrunchBase
Image via CrunchBase
Using IBM’s solution to a lack of electrical supplies, a telecommunications company,
or even a bank could set up a data center in a remote place and have
what amounts to their own DC mini grid within the data center. It really
opens up options that just weren’t there before.
Solar powered technology has been around for many years, but no one
had ever engineered it for computer use…before now. IBM has taken the
bull by the horns and discovered a way to solve a problem that has kept
many countries out of the mainstream of the computer world for decades.
No one has ever attempted to package solar power, power conditioning
and water cooling into an all-in-one system that can run huge
configurations of electronic equipment, and that is exactly what IBM has
done, and done successfully.
In addition to that gigantic leap forward for those countries that
had no chance of joining the computer era, the system it has created
gives a source of reliable, efficient, clean power to industrial-scale
electronics that are high energy intensive. It is never too late to
discover ways to reduce the world’s fuel consumption and carbon
emissions. This is just the beginning of what could be an enormous
global change in how countries are able to run their computer data
centers and where those data centers can be located.
