T5 Data Centers has signed a deal to construct solar arrays, which will benefit its data center customers.

T5's contracting arm, T5 Construction Services, will help Cherry Street Energy, an Atlanta solar company, to build solar arrays. The service will increase the renewable energy options for T5's own data center business.

solar thinkstock
– Thinkstock

Sun rising

"With this partnership, T5CS continues to expand its green energy service-line and renewable energy expertise, attributes that will crossover to T5’s core data center development business," said the T5 release.

T5 Data Centers (T5) owns and operates data centers, focusing on retail colocation since a deal last year in which investors IPI merged some of its assets with Infomart to create a wholesale colocation provider, Stack Infrastructure. Since then, T5 has had fresh investment in a partnership with Vancourver's QuadReal.

T5 Construction Services (T5CS) was established in 2014, and offers services like turnkey data hall construction, facility upgrades, equipment procurement, and project management and consulting to mission critical facilities in North America. The division operates in 39 states and has completed 200+ projects.

The move has come about because solar energy has become more cost-effective, and data centers are starting to cotton on to it, said Robbie Sovie, EVP, Development and Construction at T5. “The solar industry has come a long way over the last five years; the systems have become more efficient economically, and the footprint efficiency has also improved allowing more watts-per-square-foot in a given area. We anticipate green energy will continue to expand within the mission-critical sector."

Further reading