Dude, if Apple is liked and their brand loved even more, that $xxx million spent on solar there is nothing, even if it's declared a total loss. So, in theory, you can be a total capitalist and "waste money."
My point was not to assume that this makes sense economically just because Apple did it. They have other ways of getting their money back and if they lose, it's just a rounding error http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cf?s=AAPL&annual