QTS (Quality Technology Services) has announced the construction of new solar power installations at its Richmond and Atlanta Metro data centers. When fully operational, the two projects will provide a total of one megawatt of power generation capacity to the sites, increasing energy efficiency and reducing environmental impact.   QTS’ commitment to solar technology comes on the heels of its recent efforts to reduce the company’s carbon footprint through its Green Program.

The developments were announced yesterday by QTS’ chief technology officer Brian Johnston at Uptime Institute Symposium in Santa Clara, Calif., where he participated in an Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) panel discussion alongside executives from Yahoo! and Cisco Systems. At the event, Johnston also shared the news of QTS’ $10 million, multi-year energy efficiency investment.

“QTS is an enthusiastic proponent of solar energy’s ability to provide supplemental power to data centers,” said Johnston. “These developments are yet another step that the company is taking in furthering our multi-faceted QTS Green Program, an ongoing quest be an industry leader in reducing data center carbon footprints. Additionally, we will continue to strive for Leadership in Energy Efficiency and Design (LEED) certification across our data center portfolio to achieve greater efficiencies and reduce the company’s environmental impact.”

QTS also announced its commitment to another year of participation in the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) Climate Corps Program, a summer fellowship program that places specially-trained MBA and MPA students in organizations to help drive energy efficiency.