A series of solar canopies at Intel's Hillsboro, Ore. plant where at least one employee is now filling an EV partially with sun electricity (see picture at end of story). [Photo By Patrick Connor]

High-tech companies are often among the most progressive in the world when it comes to renewable energy.

For example, Google's got a giant 1.9 megawatt solar carport at its Mountain View, Calif. headquarters, Dell's got a series of Envision Solar Solar Trees up at its Texas headquarters, and Intel has 508 kilowatts of solar up at its Hillsboro, Ore. plant, with the majority of those kW sitting atop a series of solar carports in the company parking lot.

Intel's also added EV charging stations to its Hillsboro campus. And, as you can see in the photo at the end of this story -- which we got courtesy of Oregon Electric Vehicle Association's Patrick Connor, along with the photo at the top of Intel's solar carports -- someone's now plugging in a brand new Nissan LEAF at Intel's Hillsboro campus.

Oregon one of cleanest states for EV fueling
On a bright, sunny day, some of the electricity flowing into that LEAF's battery is likely coming from the Hillsboro Intel solar plant.

On top of that, nearly three-quarters of the electricity generated in Oregon -- which is No. 3 on SolarChargedDriving.Com's Top Ten States to Plug In An Electric Car List -- comes from renewable sources, primarily hydro-electric power.

At Intel then, it's not only "what's inside that counts" but what's outside -- as in what's outside company plants and offices that counts as well, in this case, lots of solar and some EV charging stations to boot!

A new Nissan LEAF plugged in at Intel's Hillsboro, Ore. plant. [Photo by Patrick Connor]

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