What Is Apple Building in North Carolina? [PIC]

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Apple's building something new -- that is, something other than a new iPhone.

Earlier this week, Wired sent a plane down to Apple's Maiden, N.C. data center. The magazine then shared these exclusive photos of what appears to be a groundbreaking at the center, showing construction workers building the foundations of a 20,000 sq. foot structure.

If Wired's theory is correct, Apple is finally beginning the construction of its solar farm and Bloom Energy Fuel cells, which will convert biogas into electricity.

The new facilities lie northwest of Apple's already functioning data center in the North Carolina town, which is the 500,000 sq. foot home of the Apple servers used to run iCloud.

Though Apple would say its data center is a model for energy self-suffiency, the company has come under fire from environmental advocacy group Greenpeace, which attacked Apple for building its facilities on Duke University's cheap coal and nuclear power grid.

What do you think Apple has cooking in North Carolina? Let us know in the comments.