Apple has been granted permission to sell energy from its $850 million (£645m) solar farm.

Last Thursday, energy officials in Washington DC said the company could sell power from the site in California at market prices.

The technology firm bought the 2,900 acre, 130MW facility last year.

According to Apple, renewable energy generated at the Monterey County site could supply enough electricity to power 60,000 homes or all of its stores, offices, headquarters and a data centre.

James Court, Head of Policy at the Renewable Energy Association, said the investment was positive.

He added: “A decent-sized gas power station can produce between 200MW and 400MW, so Apple’s capacity is sizeable.

“One of the growth areas in the UK is going to be companies self-supplying though solar power. I think we’re seeing a rise of self-supplying already.”

Apple also owns a 20MW facility in Nevada, a 50 MW facility in Arizona and two Chinese facilities producing 40MW between them.