Solar company Sunrun wants to turn your home into part of an AI data center

Sunrun, a company known for solar panels and home energy storage, is venturing into AI infrastructure with a novel approach. Instead of constructing a massive data center, it is launching a pilot program to place multiple compute nodes in customers' homes equipped with Sunrun solar and battery systems. Participants will be compensated for hosting these nodes.

The company intends to sell the aggregated computing power to enterprise buyers, such as AI companies. This strategy comes amid growing opposition to traditional data centers. A survey released in May found that over 70% of Americans oppose new data center construction in their areas due to concerns about pollution, noise, and resource consumption.

Sunrun's distributed network aims to spread computing power across smaller units nationwide. The company previously conducted a successful proof of concept for this program. Any of Sunrun's 1.1 million customers can join a waitlist for the pilot, which is expected to be completed over the coming months. Based on the results, Sunrun will decide whether to expand the program.