'Solar bump' tech recovers 80% more electricity from US data centers

Researchers at Rice University have developed a novel system that significantly enhances electricity recovery from waste heat generated by data centers, increasing annual recovery by 60 to 80 percent. This innovation addresses the challenge that data center waste heat is typically too low in temperature for efficient power generation. By integrating solar thermal energy with an organic Rankine cycle (ORC)—a closed-loop system that converts heat into electricity—the team uses flat-plate solar collectors to pre-heat the data center’s liquid coolant. This "solar bump" raises the temperature of the waste heat, boosting the ORC’s efficiency without adding to the facility’s electrical load. Modeling the system’s performance in two major U.S. data center hubs, Ashburn, Virginia, and Los Angeles, showed a 60 percent and 80 percent increase in electricity recovery, respectively, along with reductions in the cost per unit of recovered electricity by 5.5 percent and 16.5 percent. The hybrid system also demonstrated over 8 percent higher