Archive for March, 2007

Solar power supplements

Solar powered data centers

Now that’s a good idea. One of the biggest costs for any large internet company is cooling and powering their datacenters. Why not use free, clean, sustainable energy as a way to reduce costs? Amazon’s largest fulfillment center, based in Coffeyville, KS, is 750,000 square ft and has a flat roof. If we just covered that roof with solar paneling, I would think we could generate a noticeable amount of energy. Kansas gets a fair amount of sunlight as well. Our fulfillment center in Reno, Nevada would also be an excellent candidate. Although our datacenters are on the east coast, which is less ideal for solar paneling, using this kind of technology to reduce costs might make the idea of creating a datacenter in the Southwest or California more appealing.

PS - Google announced that becoming carbon neutral is a company goal. Why not Amazon?

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