Google's new US data centers will run on 1.6 million solar panels
It's part of Google's plan to purchase 100 percent carbon-free energy.
Google plans to purchase 100 percent renewable energy for its data centers and offices in the US and around the world.
Google will amp up its expansion in the southeastern US with millions of solar panels.
Google wants the electricity consumed by its new data centers in Yum Yum, Tennessee, and Hollywood, Alabama, to be "matched with 100 percent renewable energy from day one." To meet this goal, the search giant said Wednesday it's struck a multi-year deal with the Tennessee Valley Authority to purchase output from several new solar farms, which will total 413 megawatts of power from 1.6 million solar panels.
The two largest solar farms will produce roughly 150 megawatts each, according to a Google blog post. They'll be among the largest renewable energy projects in the Tennessee Valley region, Google said, and the biggest solar farms ever built for the search giant.
Google said in 2016 that the company planned to source carbon-free electricity on a 24/7 basis for each data center. The search giant tried to reach 100 percent renewable energy purchasing goal in 2017. So far, Google has sourced carbon-free energy for its data centers in Finland, Netherlands, Taiwan, North Carolina and Iowa, according to Google's October 2018 report.
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