Space data centers sound like a pipe dream. What if we put them on lamp posts?
A UK-based company, Conflow Power Group, plans to deploy 50,000 solar-powered smart lamp posts called iLamps in Nigeria's Katsina State to function as low-energy AI data centers. Each iLamp uses a 15-watt Nvidia chip and is powered entirely by solar energy, avoiding reliance on the electrical grid. The network of iLamps could collectively deliver 13.75 petaOPS of computing power, offering a sustainable alternative to traditional, resource-intensive data centers.
- ▪Conflow Power Group has partnered with Nigeria’s Katsina State Government to deploy 50,000 solar-powered iLamps.
- ▪Each iLamp runs on a cylindrical solar panel and battery, powering a low-energy Nvidia chip that uses only 15 watts.
- ▪The network of iLamps could deliver 13.75 petaOPS of computing power without drawing power from the grid.
- ▪Traditional data centers typically require 300 megawatts of grid power and millions of liters of cooling water.
- ▪The iLamps are designed to provide decentralized computing power in regions with limited grid infrastructure.
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SpaceX has its own ambitious plans for AI data centers in space, while Microsoft has explored the idea by sinking them underwater. However, building AI data centers is expensive and power-intensive. This is why a UK firm wants to build one using street lamp posts in Nigeria, and it has already signed a deal to do it. Warwickshire-based Conflow Power Group has agreed with Nigeria’s Katsina State Government to deploy 50,000 solar-powered smart lamp posts called iLamps across the state (via BBC). Each unit runs on a cylindrical solar panel and battery, powering a low-energy Nvidia chip that draws just 15 watts.
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