Apple installs 17 MW rooftop solar array on Jobs’ dream campus

To celebrate what would have been founder Steve Jobs’ 62 birthday tomorrow, the consumer-electronics giant announced its new headquarters, Apple Park, will be ready to accept employees starting in April. Employees will be able to bask in the electricity produced by one of the largest on-site solar arrays in the world.

February 23, 2017 Frank Andorka

Image: Apple

If Steve Jobs were still alive, he would have turned 62 tomorrow. In honor of that momentous day, Apple announced its new headquarters would open in April, powered entirely by one of the largest on-site rooftop installations in the world.

At the center of the 175-acre campus, named Apple Park, is a ring-shaped, 2.8 million-square-foot main building that is home to a 17 MW rooftop solar array that will power 75% of the building during peak daytime hours, with the remaining 25% coming from other renewable-energy sources.

“Steve’s vision for Apple stretched far beyond his time with us,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “He intended Apple Park to be the home of innovation for generations to come. We’ve achieved one of the most energy-efficient buildings in the world and the campus will run entirely on renewable energy.”

Eventually, 12,000 Apple employees will move into the facility, starting in April. The company said it expected the move to take around six months to complete.

Prior to the Apple Park installation, Apple ranked No. 4 on the Solar Energy Industries Association’s Solar Means Business list of corporations using the most solar energy. By the time of the 2016 report, Apple had installed 93.9 MW of solar over four installations. According the the report, Apple produced enough electricity at the time to charge 39 million iPhones fully each day for a year.

Last month, Apple signed a deal with NV Energy in Nevada to purchase 200 MW of solar-produced electricity for its Reno data center. The company is also a federally approved independent power producer, with a 50 MW solar farm in Arizona in operation and selling power to Arizona utility cooperative Salt River Power.

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