US-based solar developer Sunrun is in discussions with several data center developers about supplying their facilities with distributed solar power.
Speaking with Bloomberg, chief executive Mary Powell said the firm is looking at “a couple different cool models,” which could provide data centers with bespoke solar systems or leverage Sunrun's existing systems in local communities to power the installations.
Due to non-disclosure agreements with the data center companies in question, there is no information on who Sunrun is in discussions with.
“It’s just a radical collaboration that has incredible benefits for everyone,” Powell continued.
Established in 2007, Sunrun is an American provider of photovoltaic systems and battery energy storage products, primarily for residential customers.
Sunrun’s potential entry into the market comes as data centers increasingly seek clean power agreements with renewable companies to power their operations.
The US solar market has seen exponential growth over the past decade, with more than eight times the capacity today compared to 2014.
This is reflected in data center hotspots such as Virginia, which saw a massive jump from 2020, when solar produced 1,584GWh, to 6,072GWh in 2023.
As a result, data center companies, both small and large, have sought solar supply agreements. A recent example was Google, which signed a purchase agreement with Engie to receive energy from the 350MW Chillingham solar project in Bell County, Texas.
Microsoft has previously signed a distributed solar deal in the US with Pivot Energy totaling 500MW. It and Equinix have also signed distributed rooftop solar deals in Singapore. Iron Mountain has previously signed two European deals to procure distributed solar energy from warehouse rooftops.
