The economy’s energy sector is rapidly changing and adapting to be more sustainable. Solar energy applications in data centers, where infinite amounts of solar power are harnessed, are a common topic in the current discussions concerning renewable energy alternatives. While solar power effectively generates electricity, converting it into useable and reliable electricity can be a more significant challenge. Data centers can provide some of the best opportunities for harnessing solar energy; however, implementing application-specific software (ASP) to control their operational functions can be challenging when limited resources are available to follow through with such projects.
Solar Energy in Data Centers
In general, the design of a data center is to provide functional, reliable and secure operation for a specific set of applications. Data centers are typically constructed to support power, cooling and space requirements for the application it supports. The main goal is to keep the data center environment as constant as possible. It is essential that the building’s air conditioning system maintains a constant cool temperature on both sides of its heat exchange equipment – one side that provides chilled air from the inside of the facility and another side that sends hot air to discharge outside.
The need for more solar power in data centers consumes more physical resources compared to traditional power applications. Generally, the energy consumed by a data center can range from 100kW to over 850MW per site. This high power requirement is mainly attributed to the need for redundancy within their electrical and cooling systems.
Many data centers’ main challenge is implementing renewable energy integration within their facilities. Many data centers are implementing solar PV as an offsite project that captures excess power and transfers it back to the grid or utilizes it as part of a hybrid system where thermal and solar PV sources complement each other. Even with these efforts, there is still a long way to go before we have sufficient solar power availability in many regions desired by the ‘Internet of Things (IoT).
The current annual solar PV power capacity for data centers worldwide is estimated to be between 300 to 500 MW annually. It is expected to grow from approximately 9-16 GW over the next decade as many data centers look to integrate more renewable energy sources into their operations. Data center operators are also looking at different ways of utilizing the limited budget and space their installations take up within the facility to add more renewable energy capacity.
Some key factors can help increase the uptake and implementation of renewable energy in data centers, including design optimization, energy trading, power sourcing, and water and cost savings.
Design Optimization
The design of a data center is determined by the specifications required by the operator’s primary application. It is determined by the amount of physical space available to deploy the required servers or includes specific power or cooling requirements necessary to maintain consistent performance for particular applications. Understanding these specifications can help optimize the design to ensure that it can meet both functional and power needs. Power optimization, for example, will help effectively utilize all available space within a data center and reduce cooling costs at low loads, whereas designing for optimal cooling will ensure that sufficient airflow is maintained at high loads.
Energy Trading
Many data centers operate in a utility market, providing greater energy efficiency at lower prices during off-peak hours. It can reduce the data center’s power requirements during off-peak hours and thus reduce their non-productive time, allowing more time for the servers to perform when needed most. Understanding the utility market and trade mechanisms is essential as it could help offset part of your operating costs with cheaper electricity rates at certain times of the day or year.
Power Sourcing
The power sourcing for a data center is typically managed within one of two options: a centralized UPS or distributed UPS (DUPS). The main difference between these two options is the power supply location relative to the data center. The centralized UPS will have a large battery that sits outside the data center and transfers energy to the facility’s onsite UPS equipment. The energy captured by a DUPS is typically stored in one or more batteries inside the data center itself.
The centralized UPS option generally serves larger applications that use substantial power and require peak shaving capabilities. With ample capacity storage, this option can provide partial or complete system redundancy for data centers with critical applications running during power failures and is often used if there are no local utility grid alternatives available at lower costs. On the other hand, the distributed UPS option is a smaller option that may be utilized for less power-intensive applications. These devices can also be used with thermal or solar systems to complement their functionality and reduce the non-productive time required for backup systems.
Water Savings
Many data centers operate in water-starved environments with limited or intermittent water supply. An extensive centralized UPS system for these facilities can provide large amounts of backup power during peak hours or low-flow events. When combined with excess energy production from all sources (thermal, wind and solar), this energy can become an adequate revenue stream as it can be sold back to the utility provider. It can also help alleviate the need for additional power generation that would have been required to meet the facility’s peak energy demands.
Cost Savings
Cost savings significantly incentivize many data centers to implement solar PV solutions. It can help reduce their operating costs with cheaper electricity production and lower their capital expenditures by not having to purchase additional backup power capacity. It can also help level out the load profile of a data center and reduce the unproductive time within the facilities during periods of high loads and during low load hours. It reduced non-productive time can also help raise customer revenue and profitability by maximizing how much revenue they generate from each server they deploy onsite.
Many data centers are utilizing solar PV to supplement their energy requirements. However, there are also some that have solar integrated into the design from the beginning. The following functional benefits of solar can be found in such installations:
- Reduction in peak load energy demand by generating power during peak hours and storing excess power in batteries or exporting it to the grid.
- Distribution of generation across a site can reduce power outages during incidents and increase the survivability of critical facilities (such as data centers) within a site.
- Coupling with thermal plants can help power backup mechanisms when demand is low and allow some redundancy for critical facilities.
- Offsite battery storage systems can provide peak shifting capability to avoid paying higher costs for power at times when there is excess generation within the facility.
- Reducing carbon emissions through renewable energy sources reduces the influence of solar PV on a global scale and contributes to climate change mitigation.
Solar efficiency can increase energy yield per dollar invested due to effective panel performance in different weather conditions. Data centers have become a necessity for many businesses, and it has steadily become more and more important for companies to host their computing infrastructure in ways that are both efficient and environmentally responsible.
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