Apple Purchases 200 Acres for Second Solar Farm Near North Carolina Data Center
Earlier this year, Apple announced that as part of an effort to power all of its data centers with 100% renewable energy it would be building a second 20-megawatt solar farm a few miles away from its new Maiden, North Carolina data center. The new solar farm would complement the previously announced 20-megawatt facility that appears to be nearing completion directly across the street from the data center.
Solar panels at Apple's first North Carolina solar farm (Source: Jeremy Detter/Hickory Daily Record)The location of the second solar farm was not immediately revealed at that time, but the
Hickory Daily Record now reports (
via 9to5Mac) that Apple has just purchased 200 acres land for the solar farm at a cost of $3 million. The plot is located nearly 15 miles from the data center and is being co-located with a new
North Carolina Data Campus designed to attract other companies in need of data center capacity.
Apple recently closed on the land purchase that includes a tract of 218.885 acres and another tract of 0.251 acres, according to deeds and a plat book at the Catawba County Register of Deeds. [...]
The Conover site is the only other property Apple now owns in the area in addition to the main data center campus and solar farm in Maiden. With the two solar farms and a bio-gas-powered 5-megawatt fuel cell installation, it will be the largest non-utility installation in the country, according to Apple. The company expects to generate 124 million kWh a year, which would power the equivalent of 10,874 homes, Apple says on its website.
Several local governments have banded together to create the new North Carolina Data Campus, which has purchased an additional 55 acres for its purposes at the site. Facebook and Microsoft had reportedly looked at the site as a potential data center, but ultimately selected other locations due to a lack of existing infrastructure. The new data campus entity will work to provide the necessary infrastructure in order to make the site more appealing to other companies.
Popular Stories
Apple's annual iPhone event is in the rearview mirror, but rumors suggest the company plans to release a handful of additional products before the year ends.
Will there be another Apple event this October? We discuss the possibility below.
Apple in October
Apple's most recent October events were in 2021 and 2023.
In 2022 and 2024, Apple did not host an October event. Instead, it...
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps.
Apple recently revealed that the feature would soon be available in North Dakota, and starting today, the feature has officially gone...
A handful of upcoming Apple products leaked yesterday, through a combination of YouTube videos out of Russia and U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) documents that were released, despite Apple's confidentiality requests.
The leaked products include an iPad Pro with an M5 chip, as well as updated MacBook Pro and Apple Vision Pro models. All of these devices had already been rumored...
An apparent unboxing video for an unannounced iPad Pro with the M5 chip was uploaded to YouTube today by Russian channel Wylsacom.
The same YouTube account leaked the 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M4 chip before it was announced by Apple last year, so this is likely a legitimate leak.
Based on the box shown in the video, this appears to be a 13-inch iPad Pro with an M5 chip, 256GB of...
The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has seemingly confirmed Apple's work on an updated version of the Vision Pro headset.
One of several documents the FCC shared today references an Apple-designed "Head Mounted Device" with a model number of A3416. An included image confirms the device is a Vision Pro.
The FCC's uploads are transmission tests, SAR test reports, and...
The United States Federal Communications Commission has confirmed Apple's work on a new version of the MacBook Pro and several other products, leaking details on the devices ahead of launch.
The FCC published documents that reference model numbers that do not correspond with existing devices. A3434, for example, references an unreleased MacBook Pro, while other numbers are likely for...
iOS 26 was released last month, but the software train never stops, and iOS 26.1 beta testing is already underway. So far, iOS 26.1 makes both Apple Intelligence and Live Translation on compatible AirPods available in additional languages, and it includes some other minor changes across Apple Music, Calendar, Photos, and Safari.
More features and changes will follow in future versions,...
Nearly two weeks after the iPhone 17 series launched, analysts at investment banking firm Morgan Stanley said demand for the devices has been "modestly stronger than we originally expected," based on a combination of extended shipping estimates on Apple's online store and information it gathered from Apple's supply chain.
There has been strong early demand for the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro,...
Apple's two big yearly events, WWDC and the iPhone launch, are done and over with, but there are still some new products that we're expecting to see before the end of the year.
Apple TV
The Apple TV hasn't been updated since 2022, so it's due for a refresh. It doesn't look like Apple is going to change the design of its set-top box, but we can expect a faster chip
Apple code suggests...
Apple today released iOS 26.0.1 and iPadOS 26.0.1, the first updates to the iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 operating systems that came out earlier this week.
The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update.
According to Apple's release notes for the update, iOS 26.0.1 addresses a bug that could cause aberrations in...