{"ID":2885706,"CreatedAt":"2026-06-01T04:54:23.091178241Z","UpdatedAt":"2026-06-01T04:54:23.091178241Z","DeletedAt":null,"paper_url":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.04284","arxiv_id":"2508.04284","title":"Optimizing Microgrid Composition for Sustainable Data Centers","abstract":"As computing energy demand continues to grow and electrical grid infrastructure struggles to keep pace, an increasing number of data centers are being planned with colocated microgrids that integrate on-site renewable generation and energy storage. However, while existing research has examined the tradeoffs between operational and embodied carbon emissions in the context of renewable energy certificates, there is a lack of tools to assess how the sizing and composition of microgrid components affects long-term sustainability and power reliability. In this paper, we present a novel optimization framework that extends the computing and energy system co-simulator Vessim with detailed renewable energy generation models from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL) System Advisor Model (SAM). Our framework simulates the interaction between computing workloads, on-site renewable production, and energy storage, capturing both operational and embodied emissions. We use a multi-horizon black-box optimization to explore efficient microgrid compositions and enable operators to make more informed decisions when planning energy systems for data centers.","short_abstract":"As computing energy demand continues to grow and electrical grid infrastructure struggles to keep pace, an increasing number of data centers are being planned with colocated microgrids that integrate on-site renewable generation and energy storage. However, while existing research has examined the tradeoffs between ope...","url_abs":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.04284","url_pdf":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2508.04284v2","authors":"[\"Julius Irion\",\"Philipp Wiesner\",\"Jonathan Bader\",\"Odej Kao\"]","published":"2025-08-06T10:15:52Z","proceeding":"cs.DC","tasks":"[\"cs.DC\",\"eess.SY\"]","methods":"[]","has_code":false}