Huge solar farm opens in Texas to power Google data centers

A renewable energy company announced Friday the launch of one of the largest solar projects in the U.S., adding 875 megawatts of capacity to the Texas grid to support Google’s growing data center presence in the state.

California-based SB Energy’s project, called Orion Solar Belt, includes more than 1.3 million solar panels in Buckholts, Texas, about 70 miles north of Austin. To harness the project’s power, Google signed its largest solar power purchase agreement to date.

“We build large infrastructure projects like this, but I would say these have a special place in our hearts,” SB Energy co-CEO Rich Hossfeld said at the opening event at the project site, according to a video posted online. “These are the first projects we have built with 100 percent American-made products. [the] The first projects we have worked on with Google and hopefully the first of many we can build in this area.”

The Orion Solar Belt consists of three separate solar farms. About 85 percent of its electricity is used by Google for cloud computing in the Dallas area and for data centers in Ellis County, which is about 41 miles south of the city.