Now, May is aiming to compete on price with conventionally powered Web hosters. He has expanded his business with more servers, which are collocated in another hosting facility, and new services, such as dedicated servers, Web development and online support. Marketing the company as "sun-powered", he purchases electricity from 3 Phases Energy Services, a California power company that generates power only from renewable resources, rather than fossil fuels.
May has his sights on setting up an autonomous solar-powered hosting site next year. He's close to choosing a former bank as a site, on which 24 solar panels, sized at two feet by four feet each and placed on the roof, will generate electricity for the operation. The building's vault will house the company's 40 servers.
May expects that his planned configuration will allow the company to compete effectively on price with other Web hosters. Advances in the technology will help as well. The solar panels still need to improve, but batteries are far easier to maintain than they were a few years ago, he says. Also, some computer vendors supply hardware that operates using the direct current supplied by the solar panels, which simplifies set up.
The company will participate in a local energy cooperative, allowing it to purchase and sell energy with other members. That energy-exchange system, plus a battery backup system, gives the company a cushion in case the solar panels do not generate enough energy, which May says is unlikely.
This sun-powered data centre will certainly not be the first to use photovoltaic cells to run computers. A village in India has launched a project to power PCs with solar panels, as has a school in the UK, according to local press reports, and many homes worldwide supplement their electricity with solar panels.
Solar Data Centres serves mostly smaller, environmentally aware companies. But May thinks there's a sizable market in the commercial realm. Companies such as Johnson & Johnson and Ford Motor have made sustainable business practices company priorities, May noted.
At the same time, even companies that make a point of maintaining environmentally friendly policies typically don't buy electricity generated from sustainable sources. Still, much like consumers, corporations are increasingly choosing to go with eco-friendly practices, according to experts. And there are more options to purchase "green" energy than there once were.
"It pushes the envelope on the next thing that companies can do beyond energy efficiency, recycling, etc.," Ottman says.
Any potential customers will need some guarantees that May's service is reliable and cost-effective, noted Dan Lieberman, program manager for utility markets for Green-e. Green-e is a renewable electricity certification programme administered by the Centre for Resource Solutions, a think tank that advocates the use of renewable energy sources.
"Businesses wouldn't do it if they didn't see a financial value," Lieberman says. "They want to do the right thing, but they're not going to do it if it means having a negative impact."
Ultimately, May's bet is that people with a similar mindset will plug into his company's data centre. "The market potential for companies that walk the talk of sustainable business practices is phenomenal," he says. "It's just a choice that you make."
