SolarHost Catching And Selling Some RaysSolarHost Catching And Selling Some Rays

Sun is the answer for Web server needs, if you ask Steve May. No, not that Sun. May is the president of SolarHost Inc., a yearling Web host that uses Siemens AG's photovoltaic panels to power its servers. While most of the 360 sites his company hosts are run by environmental companies or nonprofits, says May, about 15% to 20% are strictly commercial companies that "could care less about solar or 'green.'" But they do care a great deal about reliable service, and SolarHost has had only 11 minutes of downtime, mainly for hardware upgrades, says May. Solar energy means no power fluctuations, and the company maintains a five-day battery backup, he says.

Aside from dependability, May says renewable energy provides a sensible marketing and profitability strategy for companies. "You've got huge data centers opening up around the country, absorbing tremendous power loads, and companies are saying, 'Well, if power is expensive, we'll just pass the price increases on to the customers.' They never consider a different energy source."

SolarHost's service does cost 20% to 25% more than the industry average, although it's closer to 10% more in California, says May. But that differential narrows with every fuel-price bump. One of renewable energy's benefits is that the system continues to amortize, says Gary Schmitz, spokesman at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The price is locked in, he says. Meanwhile, energy prices could double--or worse--in the not-so-distant future.

SolarHost wants to be thumbing its nose at the grid in five years. The company's goal is to build a data center in Florida completely powered by solar (and a small amount of wind). That includes air-conditioning, lighting--the works. "Basically, you could dig a moat around the building, and the only thing [crossing it] is a telco line running in for bandwidth," says May. Short-term plans include a 2.5-megawatt facility in Tampa.