When searching for a new web hosting company, one thing that is on many minds these days is if the hosting company in question runs on clean, renewable energy. Of the types of green energy available, solar power is one of the most used energy resources for web hosting companies. Hosting with a solar powered web hosting company does not mean one has to give up any of the standard options normally available with non-green hosting companies. A quick check on Google shows quite a few solar powered hosting companies with a lot to offer.
AISO.Net
AISO.Net uses 120 on-site solar panels to power not only their data centers but their office as well. Simply by using solar power, this company estimates that it saves over 34,000 pounds of CO2 emissions yearly. If solar energized hosting wasn’t enough, this company also uses the power of the sun for natural lighting throughout its facilities. The company’s building is outfitted with over 7 solar tubes meaning there is no need to use standard lighting fixtures during the day – a savings of another 600 pounds of CO2 emissions yearly.
AISO.Net offers seven different hosting plans (3 Linux OS and 4 Windows OS) starting as low as $9.95 a month. Each hosting account offers a good amount of web space, monthly bandwidth and a variety of standard features.
Solar Energy Host
Saving over 19,000 pounds of CO2 emissions yearly, Solar Energy Host is another great hosting company utilizing the power of the sun. The company determined that the amount of battery usage during the night hours caused greater environmental damage as compared to using electricity from the grid. So, at night grid energy is used but during the day enough energy is created from the solar panels installed at its facilities that any nightly grid energy used is more than replenished.
Solar Energy Host offers three Linux OS based accounts filled with plenty of space, monthly data transfers and all the bells and whistles one would expect from any web hosting company – all starting at just $9.95 per month.
GrayMatter
Located in one of the sunniest states around (California), GrayMatter is able to maintain its 99.9% up-time through redundant solar powered servers. With 120 solar panels located on two arrays, this company is able to generate the power it needs even on cloudy days. In case of a power outage, the company is able to pull power from a back up generator.
Starting at just $7.95 a month, GrayMatter offers four great plans with more than enough web space, monthly bandwidth and a host of features and add-on software – just as one would expect from a standard web hosting company.
Final Thoughts
Being ecologically friendly is increasingly important these days. When choosing a green web hosting company run by solar energy, it is comforting to know that for the same low monthly fee as non-green web hosting companies charge one can receive the same level of service and features one expects out of a great web hosting company.
November 17th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
While I absolutely LOVE the idea of Eco-Friendly hosts (considering how many resources they have the ability to use up), I just hate going to their web sites and that’s ALL they talk about with every turn of the page. They charge you extra for it too, which kind of sucks as well. Thank you for the list though, I am going to check them all out and compare prices.