100x Engineers
May 31, 2026
Nvidia Pays $1000 to Install Home Data Centers Through SPAN
TL;DR
Nvidia partners with SPAN to install liquid-cooled mini data centers in home backyards, paying customers $1000 while covering electricity and internet bills in exchange for AI inference compute capacity.
Key Takeaways
- 1SPAN installs a smart panel, backup battery, and Nvidia GPU-powered data center unit at zero cost, then covers all electricity and internet bills for a flat $150/month fee
- 2Each unit contains 16 Nvidia Blackwell GPUs running AI inference work for cloud companies, allowing them to bypass power shortages and permitting delays
- 38,000 distributed home units combine to match a 100 megawatt data center while deploying 6x faster and costing 1/5 the price
- 4American homes have unused electrical capacity (average 200-amp wiring with only 40% utilization), making them ideal locations for distributed data center infrastructure
Notable Quotes
“The average American home is wired for 200 amps, but only uses about 40% of that. So, all that extra electrical capacity just sits there completely unused.”
“SPAN says 8,000 of these units combined match a full 100 megawatt data center deployed six times faster and at 1/5 the cost.”
“AI companies can't build data centers fast enough because of power shortages and permitting delays. So instead of fighting cities, they're going neighborhood by neighborhood.”
Chapters
1. SPAN's Home Data Center Program
SPAN, a California startup partnering with Nvidia and homebuilder Pulte Group, installs mini liquid-cooled data center units in residential backyards at no upfront cost to homeowners.
2. Residential Electricity Infrastructure Opportunity
Average American homes are wired for 200 amps but only use about 40%, leaving significant unused electrical capacity that can power the mini data centers.
3. Homeowner Economics
Homeowners receive $1000 for installation, have all electricity and internet bills covered, and pay a flat $150/month fee—potentially saving thousands annually.
4. Technical Specifications and AI Workload
Each unit houses 16 Nvidia Blackwell GPUs running real AI inference work for cloud companies, with liquid cooling to handle the thermal load.
5. Distributed Data Center Advantages
8,000 home units collectively match a full 100 megawatt data center, deploying 6 times faster and at 1/5 the cost by circumventing power shortages and municipal permitting delays.
Key People & Entities
- SPAN
- California-based startup installing distributed home data centers
- Nvidia
- Technology company providing Blackwell GPUs for the mini data center units
- Pulte Group
- Homebuilder partnering with Nvidia and SPAN on the data center integration program
Glossary
- Liquid cooled data center
- A data center unit that uses liquid cooling instead of air cooling to manage heat generated by high-performance computing hardware
- Nvidia Blackwell GPUs
- Advanced graphics processing units from Nvidia designed for AI inference and machine learning workloads
- AI inference
- The process of using a trained AI model to make predictions or process data in real-world applications
- Smart panel
- An intelligent electrical panel that manages and optimizes power distribution and usage in a home
- Megawatt data center
- A data center facility with a power capacity measured in megawatts, used to host thousands of servers