Intel’s 3 million square feet of solar panels help heat, cool and light

News Byte May 17, 2018

Today, Intel reports on its ongoing work worldwide to reduce its climate and environmental footprint in its annual Corporate Responsibility Report.

Imagine enough solar panels to cover 52 regulation U.S football fields or 47 full-size soccer fields. The company now estimates it has installed 3 million square feet of solar arrays at Intel sites in nine nations. They harvest 33 million kilowatt hours of green power, equivalent to the annual energy use of 3,700 U.S. homes. At its campuses across the U.S., Europe and Asia, Intel uses energy from the sun to heat and cool its buildings, provide lighting and produce electricity for on-campus use. Today, 100 percent of the energy Intel uses in its chip manufacturing business in the U.S. and Europe comes from renewable sources: solar, hydro, wind. Intel has for the past decade, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, been the United States’ No. 1 or No. 2 corporate buyer of green power.

To learn more about Intel’s global work in water and waste recycling, energy conservation, reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and environmental sustainability, see the 2017-2018 Intel Corporate Responsibility Report, released today.

A 2017 photo shows Intel Corporation’s Ocotillo, Arizona, campus, where the company has built special solar parking structures that keep employees’ cars shaded from 100-degree summer temperatures and generate solar power for on-campus use. The company has installed more than 8,000 solar parking spots worldwide. New solar projects are planned or underway at many Intel campuses, including those in Ocotillo; Chandler, Arizona; India; Vietnam; and Malaysia. (Credit: Intel Corporation)