Apple’s plans to build a giant solar farm in Maiden, North Carolina, to power its new data center are well underway. The new building will require a 20 megawatt array of solar panels to create enough power, and that’s going to take up over 171 acres of land, or 107 NFL football fields. This aerial footage gives you a sense of just how huge the facility will be.
Some people will go to great lengths to catch a glimpse of Apple’s work in progress, and that includes flying a helicopter above its solar farm to see just how big it is. This video, shot by Five 9s Digital, shows the progress Apple has already made on the facility:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FBGsTuRDok
The new facility will become the world’s largest solar array dedicated to data center operations, according to Data Center Knowledge, surpassing the 14 megawatt array that supports the McGraw-Hill data center in East Windsor, New Jersey. However, some believe solar power for data centers isn’t such a great idea.
James Hamilton of Amazon Web Services says that he wonders whether solar farms are really a mix between a “bad idea and pure marketing.” He believes the environmental impact and the economics of these giant facilities may not justify their purpose.
Killian Bell is a freelance writer based in the U.K. He has an interest in all things tech and also covers Android over at CultofAndroid.com. You can follow him on Twitter via @killianbell.
