A new high-tech solar-powered streetlight, iLamp, made by British greentech firm Conflow Power Group, provides a unique solution to a growing global AI power and water consumption crisis.– reducing the carbon footprint to near-zero while supplying the world’s first autonomous AI distributed data centre.

Electricity consumption from AI data centres is estimated to be 415 terawatt-hours (TWh) and this is set to more than double by 2030 to around 945 TWh, according to the International Energy Agency, leading several nations to expand their nuclear power station programmes to cope. Surging AI demand could consume 1.7 trillion gallons of fresh water per year globally by 2027 to cool servers, according to an estimate from researchers at the University of California, Riverside

A recent Cornell University study also found that by 2030, the current rate of AI growth in the US will add up to 44 million tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere – equivalent to adding 10 million petrol cars to the road. 

The iLamp, which is fitted with Nvidia Jetson processors, reduces the carbon footprint to near-zero since it is powered off-grid by low maintenance self-cleaning solar panels generating up to 200–600W of power, depending on configuration, while only consuming 80W. The surplus electricity can support a range of technology including Nvidia Jetson AI processors which only draw 15W per unit.

Large-scale street lights replacement with iLamps could create clean, non-water-hungry distributed data centres  

Edward Fitzpatrick, Director of Conflow Power said:

“While tech giants scramble to build nuclear power stations to feed their AI addiction, we've built something smarter. Right now, in order to power AI, the likes of OpenAI or Google Gemini need a huge building full of GPUs and they have to pump massive amounts of electricity into it, along with a huge water supply for the cooling system. This is inefficient and we need a smart solution.

“There are streetlights everywhere in our towns and cities. By replacing them with iLamps fitted with Nvidia Jetson processors, you create a huge distributed data centre which is clean, non-water-hungry and low latency because the servers are near to the users. We are already in advanced negotiations with several large companies and world governments to make this a reality.”

The iLamps come with a 20-year warranty and the base model costs £7,500 but AI providers pay to use the Nvidia Jetson compute power for their services – meaning buyers can generate revenue instead of incurring running costs. They can also be fitted with almost any tech as required, including AI cameras, sensors, Wi-Fi and GPUs.

Conflow sells exclusive territorial licences to operate iLamp in different global territories. Licensees own the local company and sell the product under licence. Customers typically get local and federal tax incentives and rebates, and AI providers pay to use the compute power. Customers generate revenue instead of paying electricity bills.

In one transaction last year Conflow Power Group sold an exclusive license to iLamp Florida LLC for US$45 million, which last month sold a sub license sector to iLamp Secure Inc. for US$80m in a 50-year deal to exclusively provide advanced safety technology to 4,400 schools across Florida. This resulted in an addressable market valuation of US$777 million.

The iLamps supplied under this programme are fitted with integrated AI safety technology including weapon identification, gunshot detection, next-generation Automatic License Plate Recognition, facial recognition, early fire detection, smoke warnings, vehicle speed detection and private wireless connectivity.

Another version of the iLamp is being developed in collaboration with a major tech firm to equip rugby clubs in the UK and France with AI-assisted cameras for tactical analysis, along with lighting for night training.

With a £400 million balance sheet, Conflow Power Group is a London-based global greentech company pioneering modular smart city infrastructure and off-grid energy systems. The Group aggregates complementary technologies in solar, battery storage, autonomous power, AI and communications to deliver scalable, lower-carbon solutions.

Its flagship product, the iLamp, combines advanced solar generation, energy storage and embedded AI to turn conventional streetlighting into a self-sustaining platform for data-services, connectivity and smart-city applications. Conflow’s Power as a Service licensing model enables rapid rollout through global partnerships while reducing local energy reliance and water-cooling burdens.