Solar Power Vs. Energy Credits

AISO's data center and office is powered by 120 solar panels which generate our electricity. AISO receives calls from customers asking if AISO really runs entirely on solar power. We have proof, a real-time Web camera trained on our solar panels that flank our 2,000-square-foot data center. "Anybody can buy ecocredits," says Phil Nail, Director of Technology for AISO, referring to companies that buy alternative energy credits(REC's) in exchange for the amount of dirty electricity they consume. "We're out to make a difference. We don't have to offset anything, because we don't pollute in the first place." View this article by HostJury that explains how we go beyond other hosting companies in being green.

Our office and data center run on 100% Solar Powered "carbon-free" energy. This is very different from companies who buy "carbon credits" to offset their energy use. With AISO.Net, the energy comes directly from renewable resources: our sun. This is a very important difference. With "green" web hosting companies that offset their energy use by buying carbon credits, the energy powering their servers comes from the common energy grid. This energy often comes from the burning of fossil fuels (coal or natural gas) or even from nuclear plants. Therefore, these "Carbon Neutral" web hosting companies are not reducing the total amount of fossil fuels being used to create electricity. This is the key difference: our servers produce zero emissions! We are far beyond "carbon neutral".

AISO is 100% solar powered with proof and we don't pass the extra costs associated with going greener to our clients! Like other supposed green hosting companies that use energy credits, they don't even take into account the air conditioning units where they keep their co-located servers, the air polluting diesel generators, networking equipment and other factors; AISO does care about our environment through and through, and we have done more then just make sure our electricity is environmentally friendly. Click here to find out how.

As stated above with energy credits, the actual electrons consumed to power the servers at other hosting companies are not necessarily the electrons generated from the energy credits. Each energy credit generated feeds power into the utility grid (power pool). So their servers may consume electrons that are generated by a coal-fired facility, but another consumer within the power pool will consume the electrons generated from the energy credits. The net impact is a reduction in GHG emissions using energy credits, which is good, but with AISO.Net you know the electons generated from its solar panels are going directly to our data center, office and servers; powering your web site or dedicated server.

The Internet is perhaps one of the greatest technological advances of our time. It gives us the ability to be connected and to share information instantly with the potential to dramatically reduce our need for travel; thereby reducing the amount of CO2 emissions we produce. But the Internet has a big carbon footprint. It’s estimated that globally it takes about 868 billion kWh (kilowatt hours) of electricity per year to run the Internet, associated PCs, routing infrastructure, and phone networks (ref). Of this, about 112.5 Billion kWh are used to power "data centers", which are the companies that store all the websites. This represents a lot of energy, and potentially a lot of CO2 emissions. It has been estimated that as of early 2007 there were about 108,810,358 websites in existence (ref). This means that on average, each website uses about 1020 kWh of "data center" energy each year, which you can reduce to zero by hosting with us!

A myth with solar panels is, will my web site stop working during cloudy days (Can a solar panel produce electricity on a cloudy day)?
Although we have batteries and a propane powered generator, yes, a solar panel does produce electricity even when it is not placed in bright sunlight. On a normal cloudy day there is always enough so-called diffused light, by which the panel will produce electricity. Even when the sky is mostly cloudy, any sunlight breaking through will bounce off the bottoms of the clouds. This can at times actually give more solar power than a cloudless sky.

Solar System Facts
• A 1 kW solar system installed can offset about 1 ton of CO2 pollution each year.

• Every 5 solar 1 kw systems installed takes 1 car off the road. Average CO2 emission per passenger car per year = 11,450 pounds (Source: U.S. EPA, 2000)

• Energy prices will always go up. Generating electricity is the best way to protect yourself against the price volatility of electrical energy.

• Energy produced by conventional means creates pollution. There are no by-products from generating electricity with a solar energy system.

• Energy produced by conventional means is noisy. Solar Systems are silent and that means less noise pollution.