IBM rolls-out solar-power arrays for data centres

BANGALORE, INDIA: IBM announced that it is rolling out solar-power array designed specifically to run high-voltage data centres, integrating AC- and DC-based servers, water-cooled computing systems and related electronics.

The new array spreads over 6,000 square-feet of roof-top covering IBM’s India Software Lab in Bangalore. The solar array is capable of providing a 50-kilowatt supply of electricity for up to 330 days a year, for an average of five hours a day.

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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 centres by about 10 per cent and tailors solar technology for wider use in industrial IT and electronics installations, claimed the company in a release.

IBM’s Bangalore array is the first move to blend solar-power, water-cooling and power-conditioning into a “snap-together” package suitable to run massive configurations of electronic equipment, added the company.

“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, senior vice president, IBM Systems & Technology Group. “We’ve designed a solar solution to bring a new source of clean, reliable and efficient power to energy-intensive, industrial-scale electronics.”

IBM plans to connect the Bangalore solar-power system directly into data centre’s water-cooling and high-voltage DC systems.

The integrated solution can provide a compute power of 25 to 30 teraflops using a POWER 775 system on a 50kW solar power supply, added the company.

“This solar deployment, currently powering almost 20 per cent of our own data centre energy requirements, is the latest in the investments made at the India lab to design an efficient and smarter data center,” said Ponani Gopalakrishnan, VP, IBM India Software Lab. “Ready access to renewable energy in emerging markets presents significant opportunities for IBM to increase efficiencies, improve productivity and drive innovation for businesses around the world.”