HP harnesses solar, wind power

Looking to reap financial savings and reduce its carbon footprint, HP today announced that it will use solar power for its forthcoming datacenter in San Diego and wind power for facilties in Ireland.

For the San Diego facility, HP has signed an agreement with SunPower that covers the installation of a 1-megawatt solar-electric power system and required maintenance of the system for the next 15 years. The solar installation won’t belong to HP; rather, it will be financed and owned by a third-party financier. That means HP won’t put down a dime in upfront capital costs. Moreover, under the terms of the agreement, HP has locked in a reduced, locked-in rate under the SunPower Access program.

HP estimates it will save approximately $750,000 in energy costs during the next 15 years. The company also will earn renewable energy credits as the installation will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 16 million pounds during the next 15 years.

The SunPower installation will include 5,000 solar panels atop five of the seven buildings. Notably, it will only provide just over 10 percent of HP’s energy use at the San Diego facility.

Over in Ireland, HP has sign a contract with Airtricity, a renewable energy company developing and operating wind farms across Europe and North America. Through the agreement, Airtricity will supply renewable wind energy, generated by both onshore and offshore wind farms. to a number of HP’s facilities in Ireland for fiscal year 2008.

Through the contract, HP will purchase more than 80 gigawatt-hours of renewable energy. The company predicts it will save around $40,000 over the year-long contract, and that it will reduce its carbon emissions by 40,000 tons.