Ondrej Holzman Apple's solar power production has grown so much that it has decided to establish a subsidiary company, Apple Energy LLC, through which it will sell excess electricity throughout the United States. The Californian company has already applied for permission from the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
In March of this year, Apple announced that it had 521 megawatts in solar projects worldwide, making it one of the largest users of solar energy in the world. The iPhone maker uses it to power all of its data centers, most Apple Stores and offices.
In addition to solar energy, Apple also invests in other "clean" sources such as hydroelectricity, biogas and geothermal energy. And if the company itself cannot generate enough green electricity, it will buy it elsewhere. It currently covers 93% of its global needs with its own electricity.
However, it plans to sell excess electricity from its solar farms in Cupertino and Nevada throughout the United States in the future. Apple's advantage should be that it will be able to sell electricity to anyone if it succeeds in its application to FERC. Otherwise, private companies can only sell their surpluses to energy companies, and mostly at wholesale prices.
Apple argues that it is not a major player in the energy business and can therefore sell electricity directly to end customers at market prices because it cannot fundamentally influence the entire market. It is seeking a permit from FERC that would take effect within 60 days.
For now, we can't expect the sale of electricity for Apple to become a significant part of its business, but it is still an interesting way for it to make money from investments in solar energy. And maybe to buy electricity for the night operation of your projects.
So if I understand correctly, Apple is only solar powered when the sun is shining. As long as it does not store its energy in batteries, for example, so that it can be completely disconnected from the grid, then it will not be a real operation on solar energy for me?
there will be some batteries, moreover, data centers usually have UPS. otherwise, it would not even be possible to reach such a high percentage