(Credit: Span)
With concerns growing over environmental impacts and soaring electricity use, many Americans are none too keen on having a new data center built in their neighborhood.
But what about a data center literally in the backyard? A startup called Span has partnered with chip giant Nvidia to install small data centers in Americans' homes. These “distributed data centers” could work together to achieve the same end results as today’s large-scale facilities, powering AI and cloud gaming, Span says.
Launched in 2018, Span produces smart electrical panels that can provide granular breakdowns of household energy usage—for example, how much electricity a refrigerator consumes. The new solution, which it calls XFRA, reportedly uses the built-in intelligence of Span's smart electrical panels to tap additional electrical service capacity from the existing grid. The company says it does not expect these mini data centers to replace traditional large-scale facilities, but rather to provide a “low-cost, low-latency solution that can scale quickly” amid record AI demand.
Recommended by Our Editors
Span is working with PulteGroup, a residential home construction company, on the initial rollout of XFRA systems. A Span spokesperson told Realtor.com that these mini data centers could also save consumers money since Span “will take on paying the host’s electricity and internet bills directly, and charge a flat fee every month that’s much lower than what the host would otherwise pay to their electric utility and internet service provider.” However, the spokesperson added that “the exact arrangement will vary from one neighborhood or region to the next.”
The rollout has already begun, with Span targeting a 100-home proof-of-concept alongside PulteGroup and other homebuilder partners. The rollout will initially focus on newly built homes before later piloting retrofits for existing homes and smaller commercial properties.