Apple buys 100 acres for new solar farm
Apple has purchased an additional 100 acres of North Carolina which it will use to add to the solar farm it already operates in the region. The state's Claremont City Council has approved the project, which will cost Apple a reported US$55 million -- that's sofa-cushion change for a company that's so firmly in the black.
It's estimated that the farm's construction will take five years and create 75 jobs. When complete, it will generate 17.5 megawatts of power for Apple. Compare that to Apple's main North Carolina solar farm in Maiden, which produces 20 megawatts of power for a data center (pictured above).
Apple intends to give back to its host as well. It will give two parcels of land back to Claremont that it can use as greenways. The value of that land is about $96,000.
In September of 2010, Apple bought 200 acres in NC to produce a second 20 MW farm.
