Apple is using an Arizona solar farm to power the factory that will make the iPhone 6's sapphire screens, according to the Guardian.
This makes Apple a "leader" in "controlling its own power supply," the newspaper reported -- and the company's breaking the mold in another way, departing from its usual secretive nature to show off its green efforts.
Apple showed off its data center in North Carolina recently before noting that it is going to install solar as well as geothermal power at the Mesa, Arizona factory where the sapphire glass screens are being made, according to the report.
Apple's North Carolina data center uses enough energy to power 14,000 homes, the newspaper reported.
Google, by contrast, powers about a third of its data centers with clean energy. Facebook is going to have at least one data center that's green by next year, when a wind-powered "Like" factory goes online in Iowa.
All of the above still need to be connected to the grid in some way, though. A backup power supply is required, and there's always the risk of a cloudy day in the case of solar.
Apple's 55,000 solar panels in North Carolina is reported to be the biggest private solar array in the country.
