iomart has installed 560 solar panels at its flagship data centre in Maidenhead, with the goal of powering the site with self-sustaining energy during the summer.

According to iomart, the solar panels will generate around 250,000 kWh of energy per annum at the 2,800 sqm facility, avoiding 96,061kg of CO2 emissions annually. 

iomart’s Maidenhead data centre is the company’s largest in the UK, and is the provider’s main self-managed infrastructure facility, powering more than 12,000 servers. 

David Gammie, CTO at iomart, said, “We have a large portfolio of data centres across the UK and making sure they’re as sustainable as possible is one of our biggest focuses at iomart.

“We’ve already committed to powering all our data centres with 100% renewable energy. This installation at Maidenhead takes that commitment one step further – generating our own energy onsite, and in addition the potential to export energy back into the grid network in the future.

“Our Maidenhead data centre is the ideal location for a project like this. It has a vast roof space, making solar panels the ideal solution.”

The installation is being delivered by solar energy company 3ti, and was completed in May this year.