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Sometimes the smallest of news items can direct to magnanimous trend lurking beneath the surface . Case in point : Googleannouncedlate last month that it has install 100 million Li - ion jail cell across its data point centers to allow for backup power to its servers .
On its own , it ’s not earth - shattering news . But it shines a light on a tendency that ’s rippling through the world . bombardment are everywhere , and thanks to the relentless push to slash costs for electric vehicles , they ’re driving change inmyriad partsof the saving .
Years ago , in Google ’s datum centers , waiter racks were anchored with lead - dot stamp battery backup units . The former clunkers were dependable , but they were also bulky , laborious , and not all that powerful .
But as Google has replaced them with lithium - ion cell , the benefits have been breed . Google says the cells it ’s using keep twice the power and take up half as much outer space as its old lead - acid batteries . As a result , the company was able to cut the number of cells required by three - quarters .
In that space , Google can cram more servers , the things that make them money , unlike barrage , which are more like a physical manakin of insurance . You should have them in casing of hand brake , but you should only corrupt what you perfectly need . pass on that it be at least $ 125 to develop one square foot of a newfangled data center of attention , accordingto developer JLL , every in counts .
The battery - as - disruptor trend has been playing out elsewhere , too .
In homes , citizenry have been set up large , multi - kilowatt batteries to store supererogatory solar and keep the lights on when the power move out . At campsites , they ’re using portable battery packs to exchange noisy , noxious generators . One inauguration is even using small cells todisplace dry icefrom aesculapian specimen shipments , offer finer temperature dominance and a host of tracking data to bang .
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Should we be impressed by Google ’s installation of 100 million Li - ion cells since 2015 ? That depends on the circumstance : Panasonic has shippedover 10 billion cellsfrom its Nevada works since it open in 2015 .
However unfavorable that proportion may seem , it undersells the cascading impact that batteries are get . Even Google ’s modest figures show how bombardment can bring subtle disruption to less expected corner of the world .
