Bloemfontein compressed air solar container data center

How to develop a green data center driven by solar energy?

The system parameters are analyzed. In order to develop the green data center driven by solar energy, a solar photovoltaic (PV) system with the combination of compressed air energy storage (CAES) is proposed to provide electricity for the data center. During the day, the excess energy produced by PV is stored by CAES.

What is compressed air energy storage (CAES)?

Meanwhile, to suppress the volatility of PV power generation and reduce the operation costs of the data center during peak periods of power grid, a suitable compressed air energy storage (CAES) with five stages of compression and four stages of expansion is proposed. During the day, the extra electricity from PV system is stored in CAES.

What is the PV power consumption of a data center?

During the period from 8:25 to 17:07, the PV power generation is higher than 17.5 MW. Therefore, during this time, the power consumption of the data center can be fully supplied by the PV system, and the excess PV power is used for the charging process of CAES system to compress the air and store the compressed energy.

Does a data center use solar power at night?

At night, there is no solar power, and CAES will produce the electricity for the data center, so as to reduce the operation costs during the peak periods of power grid. To analyze the performances of CAES system based on PV power generation for a data center, thermodynamic and economic models are established.