What is it that makes the big tech guys look sideways?!

In real life, Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook and many other giants at the forefront of science and technology have begun to layout the field of photovoltaic power generation. Photovoltaic has become the consistent choice of these real "Iron men" to lead mankind to the future world.

Apple

▲ Apple Park

 Rewind the clock a year ago, and the iPhoneX was unveiled to great fanfare at Apple's new headquarters. At the press conference, when Apple CEO Tim Cook proudly introduced Apple's global headquarters is 100 percent renewable energy, is the world's largest rooftop photovoltaic power station, the audience applause. According to public data, the top of the ring of Apple Park, the headquarters of Apple, is all laid with solar panels. The installed capacity is 17MW, which can generate electricity for itself, and the power supply is 100% sustainable energy. In addition, the ventilation system throughout the building is not air-conditioned, but naturally ventilated. The whole building doesn't need an air conditioner. As a matter of fact, Apple started its layout in the photovoltaic field early. Apple currently has 25 active renewable energy projects in 11 countries, according to public data. Eight years ago, only 16 percent of facilities were powered by renewable energy. By 2015, that number had risen to 93 percent, and by 2016 it was 96 percent. In April 2018, Cook retweeted Apple news that officially announced that Apple's retail stores, offices, data centers, and other facilities in 43 countries around the world had been powered by 100% renewable energy.

Google

▲ Ivanpah photovoltaic power station

 In contrast to Apple, another tech giant, Google's solar investments are characterized by both large and small. In 2015, Google invested $300 million in SolarCity, a California company, to fund more than 25,000 home solar projects. Elon Musk, the founder of SolarCity, a US company that develops photovoltaic projects for home use, and his other company, Tesla, is a sign of the real-life Iron Man's enthusiasm for renewables. Google has also invested in Ivanpah, a large ground-based photovoltaic plant. The Ivanpah photovoltaic plant, still standing in the California desert, is proof that solar and thermal power can also be used in the high temperature and high pressure desert. Google plans to use 3600MW of clean energy by 2025 and convert 14 of its data centers on four continents to renewable energy, ensuring that all of its operations are powered by renewable energy as demand for its Internet search, maps, Gmail and YouTube video services increases. 

Amazon 

▲ Amazon Logistics Center 

Among the tech giants, Amazon has set a goal of developing at least 50 rooftop solar PV projects worldwide by 2020. Currently, the e-retailer has 28 photovoltaic and wind projects in the United States. Back in March 2017, Amazon announced a plan to install solar PV in its logistics distribution centers. These initial projects are located at Amazon facilities in California, New Jersey, Maryland, Nevada and Delaware. Amazon says the solar farms provide 80 percent of the electricity needs of each distribution center. Amazon is also building wind and solar farms in North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia, five projects that generate enough electricity to power 240,000 U.S. homes. 

Facebook 

▲ Facebook Headquarters

 Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is also a big fan of photovoltaics. In 2017, he spoke highly of photovoltaics at Harvard University. In his opinion, photovoltaic power generation can stop climate change and protect the planet. Facebook has publicly pledged to run its operations on 100% renewable energy and cut greenhouse gas emissions by 75% by 2020. According to Facebook's sustainability report, the company's carbon dioxide emissions rose steadily from 2013 to 2017, with expanding data centers contributing the most. Greenhouse gas emissions associated with Facebook's data center operations increased from 360,000 tons in 2013 to 600,000 tons in 2017, a 67% increase over four years. In addition to tech companies, Starbucks, linkedin, Ikea, Microsoft and many others have a presence in the new energy sector. Jeremy Rifkin, an American scholar, predicted in his book The Third Industrial Revolution that a new Energy utilization system, Energy Internet, would emerge with the deep combination of new energy technology and information technology. The so-called energy Internet is a "distributed, open and shared network based on renewable energy". He believes that the industrial model based on the large-scale use of fossil fuels laid down in the second Industrial Revolution is coming to an end because of the gradual depletion of fossil fuels and the environmental problems they cause. The third Industrial revolution with energy Internet as the core will have a profound impact on the economic development model and life style of human society. 

Reprinted from Wechat, a Chinese entrepreneur magazine