Friday, 16 August 2013

Renewable energy: The NMBS Solar Farm


Always thinking ahead and making best use of new and affordable technology NMBS has had an 8KW photovoltaic system recently installed (April 2013) that is more than capable of powering its computer based server farm. All of the NMBS computer servers and other equipment now have an alternative power source. 

During day light hours (average 11.5 hours/per/day/per/year. source: www.projectbritain.com) the system is capable of producing over 8KW/per/hour on bright sunny day, dropping to approximately 2KW/per/hour on a very overcast day, producing an average of approximately 5KW/per/hour). The server farm requires approximately 5.6KW/per/hour during normal business hours to operate. On this basis the farm should be self-sufficient for the majority of the working day. Any excess power that is generated is fed directly into the national power grid; conversely, any short fall of power requirements are met by the external power grid. 
The NMBS server farm includes all systems that operate the NMBS back office system, the Report Centre, all of the NMBS websites, and the download centre (electronic trading), which are used by both internal and external customers.


If you use the NMBS Report Centre or any of the other computer based services provided by NMBS you can be safe in the knowledge that you are helping the fight against carbon emissions and global warming.

 By Dr M. Jackson (June 2013)

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