NEXTDC M1 is First Data Center to Go Live with REC Solar Panels

REC has continued its ascendancy in Australia by providing REC Peak Energy Series solar panels for Australia’s largest privately funded rooftop solar installation.

Built by REC Platinum Partner Energy Matters, the new plant is owned and operated by Australian data center company NEXTDC at its Port Melbourne facility. The facility has 1,575 REC 255 Peak Energy solar panels turning almost 3,000 m² of rooftop real estate to profitable use. This utility-scale project is unique in the Australian data center industry and points the way forward for other commercial players.

The Melbourne installation makes NEXTDC the first data centre in Australia to use solar directly for their electricity needs. Generating 550 MWh of electricity every year, the NEXTDC M1 plant is part of the company’s drive to greater self-sufficiency in power generation – a business decision that enables it to lock down the costs of this key operational resource. The new solar system produces 5% of the electricity which NEXTDC uses at this site, delivering large annual cost savings on the company’s electricity bills from conventional sources.