Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) has huge solar plans at N.C. data center

Orlando, FL 2/21/12 (StreetBeat) -- Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) said on Monday that it plans to power its massive data center in North Carolina with equally massive solar and fuel-cell installations.

The company said the solar array, expected to cover much of 100 acres, will be the biggest end-user-owned installation in the country. Its capacity is estimated at 20 megawatts, supplying 42 million kilowatt-hours of solar power annually.

The fuel-cell installation is estimated at 5 megawatts and will be fueled by biogas. Two likely suppliers of the fuel cells are Bloom Energy or FuelCell Energy (Nasdaq: FCEL).

Apple has already spent an estimated $1 billion to build the 500,000-square-foot data center in Maiden, N.C., which plays a major role in its iCloud storage and sync service and its Siri voice-activated personal assistant.

The fact that the company planned to build a large solar farm next to the data center has been known since last year but the exact size hadn't been revealed until Apple issued an environmental report on Monday, along with a facilities report.

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