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tobytoby
I must say, the guy has guts tinkering around with solar panels in the wet ...
docdivakar
Kris, you got it right, this more a PR than substance for IBM! Its facility in ...
IBM tries running data centers on solar power
Sylvie Barak
11/21/2011 5:29 PM EST
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--IBM is harnessing the power of the sun with a massive installation of a 6,000-square-foot array of solar panels in Bangalore, India, which the firm claims can run 50 kilowatts of computer equipment for around 330 days a year, running five hours a day.
The solar data center powerhouse is thought to be the first of its kind and could help companies in the developing world have access to electricity in places where the infrastructure grid is either inherently unstable or virtually non-existent.
IBM said it had specifically designed its solar farm to run high-voltage data centers, integrating AC- and DC-based servers, water-cooled computing systems and related electronics. IBM says the system in Bangalore can provide compute power of 25 to 30 teraflops using an IBM Power Systems server on a 50kW solar power supply.
The company said that by using high-voltage DC power conditioning methods – and reducing AC-DC conversion losses – it could cut energy consumption of data centers by about 10 percent, which would make a serious dent in terms of decreasing carbon emissions and the need for more polluting diesel based fuel systems, on which generators are usually run.
By employing unique high-voltage DC power conditioning methods – and reducing AC-DC conversion losses – the new IBM solution can cut energy consumption of data centers by about 10 percent and tailors solar technology for wider use in industrial IT and electronics installations.
“The technology behind solar power has been around for many years, but until now, no one has engineered it for efficient use in IT,” said Rod Adkins, a senior vice president at IBM’s systems and technology group, adding that this was the first time a firm had thought to bring clean, reliable and efficient power to energy-intensive, industrial-scale electronics.
Ponani Gopalakrishnan, a vice president at IBM’s India software lab said the initial solar deployment was currently powering almost 20 percent of the local branch’s data center energy requirements and that the experiment represented “significant opportunities for IBM to increase efficiencies, improve productivity and drive innovation for businesses around the world.”
It’s thought IBM may even be able to store the incoming energy in batteries for use as and when it’s needed.
The firm says it plans on packaging the service in order to sell it to customers by next year.
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Ja_ck
11/21/2011 6:05 PM EST
Great initiative!
"..initial solar deployment was currently powering almost 20 percent of the local branch’s data center energy requirements"
Can't help but notice data centers on an average consume nearly 20MW. However, this solar farm provides with only 50KW. I doubt whether powering 20% is a valid figure.
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iniewski
11/21/2011 6:33 PM EST
Great PR for IBM but really solar deployment will have to be huge to power data center...in Vancouver where I live we have a one wind turbine installed on one of the surrounding mountains that barely powers 20% of the restaurant...and that happens when the wind is actually blowing (there is not storage of the energy there)...when will the public wake up to reality of numbers involved in renewable energy sources??? perhaps EE Times could broadcast these numbers more visibly...Kris
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paboyle
11/22/2011 4:23 AM EST
Want numbers:
http://www.withouthotair.com/
This guy is energy advisor to the UK Govt.
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docdivakar
11/28/2011 2:57 AM EST
Kris, you got it right, this more a PR than substance for IBM! Its facility in Bangalore doesn't have the area needed for mounting the requisite solar panels. I am guessing here, 50KW was probably the max IBM could get out of its installation in B'lore. But a co-generation facility utilizing wind and perhaps biomass can perhaps add a few kW's more to the solar panel's output.
MP Divakar
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SylvieBarak
11/21/2011 6:48 PM EST
Kris, to be sure, you're right and it will need a huge installation (I pinged IBM asking for exact numbers, they need to get back to me... I'll update once they do). On the other hand, I think this is squarely targeted at emerging markets and places where electricity is in very short supply to begin with, so it's not so much a replacement for 1st world data center power sources, as it is an enabling technology for a bank or small company in rural India. And as solar technology improves, so will efficiency. It's still early days for this kind of technology, and I think IBM is on the right track for at least giving it a go.
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Himanshu_Gupta
11/23/2011 1:19 PM EST
did you get any response from IBM. Do you know who are the people involved in this project?
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SylvieBarak
11/23/2011 2:15 PM EST
Nope, no response yet. I guess this is down to Thanksgiving, meaning a lot of people are on holiday this week. Will post an update as soon as I have one.
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larkforsure
11/21/2011 8:00 PM EST
[ Begging for Life] Complaint about IBM China CSR on Centennial
Please Google:
IBM detained mother of ex-employee on the day of centennial
or
How Much IBM Can Get Away with is the Responsibility of the Media
or
Tragedy of Labor Rights Repression in IBM China
or
IBM Advised to Treat its People with Humanism in China
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daleste
11/21/2011 9:24 PM EST
Everybody wants something for free. Solar power, wind power, geothermal, it's all free, right? 10% of the power required by a data center is pretty good, but what is the cost of the solar array and the maintenance. Is it really cost effective? I hope so.
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prabhakar_deosthali
11/22/2011 12:14 AM EST
Forget the cost of the initial installation of such solar array. The sheer paucity of adequate electricity from the conventional ways make it necessary to go to such alternate power sources as wind and solar to augment the power requirement. It is better than having to shutdown your data center 4 hours a day because of no power from the utility.
I commend this pioneering step taken by IBM , which many corporates should follow
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elwood
11/22/2011 1:52 PM EST
Great insight. If the government doesn't provide the infrastructure for doing business, corporations must provide the services themselves. The evolution of the "company town".
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C VanDorne
11/22/2011 1:52 PM EST
Isn't all energy renewable? - "Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only changed in form."
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jaybus
11/22/2011 2:20 PM EST
Conservation of energy, yes, but you are forgetting about entropy. Energy conversion has a statistically favored direction, generally from an ordered, usable form to a more random, less usable form. There is no perpetual motion machine.
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DrQuine
11/22/2011 3:03 PM EST
As Prabhakar mentioned, an essential additional benefit here is to be self sufficient in power when the grid is unreliable. While solar cell power may command a slight premium; backup power systems are staggeringly expensive and often noisy and unreliable. If the solar cells allow the data center to be more reliable and to eliminate a generator, the payback is probably very good. Starting solar cell deployment where power is unreliable is a great strategy.
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sharps_eng
11/22/2011 4:06 PM EST
I do business with a sub-contractor in India and he suffers intermittent AC power, so he needs extra batteries to run his UPS to keep working. One day recently he had to stop because his reserve power was exhausted.
It used to be like that in the West, in country districts and farms you just lived your life around resources that came and went.
Are we seeing IBM repurposing themselves as a green utility provider, or is this just to sell servers to the third world?
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DickH
11/22/2011 4:12 PM EST
I must be misunderstanding something. What kind of data center only runs for 5 hours a day?
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dementor_#1
11/23/2011 8:51 AM EST
The context here is that industries in Bangalore have to undergo enforced power cuts for 4-5 hours and resort to diesel generators ..hence the 5 hour per day calculation
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Michael.Cowan_#3
11/23/2011 12:32 PM EST
A step in the right direction, but need far more solar and wind.Most data center signle 7 foot frames 19 inches wide can consume 30 to 50KW using the highest perforkmance TDP processors
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kinnar
11/25/2011 6:35 AM EST
Hats off to a wonderful initiative being taken by IBM, Data Centers are the place where the solar panel can be best suited and applied. The technology can be given best start-up from this kind of high end sophisticated power usage.
Great work done IBM.
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tobytoby
12/1/2011 3:47 PM EST
I must say, the guy has guts tinkering around with solar panels in the wet climate. This dude still around
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