Solar powered mining

The installations take up additional space. SVC PC-100 with dimensions of 89 by 67 cm generates 100 watts of electricity. The CIS ranks first in the world in terms of land area, so devices for generating electricity will become relevant in Russia and Kazakhstan.

What you need for solar mining

For stable energy generation, you need to choose a lighted place. The following tools for installation will be required:

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• A roof or a wall on an undarkened land plot. Urban environments are inconvenient for installing panels due to the pollution of metropolitan areas.
• Inverter. Electronics to convert alternating current to direct current.
• Installations with a calculation of the electrical consumption of the farm. It is important to take a reserve for the upgrade of components.
• Single-core copper cable with double insulation.
• Connectors. Wires are needed to connect to the panels.
• Protection. It is necessary to install a fuse and a circuit breaker.

How to organize the farm

In addition to the tools necessary for installation, you need to take into account the location of the equipment. To generate electricity, you need to observe the azimuth (direction to the south) and the angle of inclination of the equipment.

In the northern hemisphere, the panels need to be set at 180 degrees. The optimal value is equal to the geographic latitude of the region. In St. Petersburg, the tilt should be 60 degrees, vertical to the south.

Snow reduces the amount of energy produced. It is necessary to provide access for regular cleaning or install the panels vertically in winter.

Depending on the time of year, you need to change the angle by 12 points. In summer the angle needs to be increased and in winter the angle needs to be decreased. As a result, for Khabarovsk, the angle should be 36 degrees by December and 60 degrees by June.

Calculating profitability

To calculate the benefit of green energy sources, you need to take into account the efficiency factor of the equipment. Square and ARK Invest have calculated the profitability of bitcoin mining. There are three factors:

• Length of daylight hours. No energy will be produced at night. Also, in winter, dawn comes later and sunset earlier. This affects the uptime (time of operation of the equipment).
• Panels take a long time to pay off. Battery operation will come to a plus in 8-10 years, depending on the farm.
• According to Froomkin’s study, the internal rate of return on investment (IRR) on a renewable energy source is -99%. However, if you don’t sell half of the bitcoin mined for the duration of mining, the potential figure rises to 0% and a payback in 14 months.

According to the calculations, it is necessary to keep a part of the mined bitcoins on the wallet. However, the classic mining method is more profitable even with an uptime of 35% and a tariff of $0.05 per kilowatt – it pays off in 9 months with an IRR of 507%. In January 2023, green mining is unattractive as an investment.

We need to take into account the region of residence, the cost of equipment and the capacity of the farm. An example of calculation is shown in the table.

Prospects for solar mining

National governments are incentivizing data centers to switch to green sources of electricity to maintain farms. For example, Morocco has developed green energy projects (Plan Vert). In January 2023, they provide almost 40% of the country’s power, by 2030 the share should exceed 50%.

More than 10 large wind farms have been built in the country. Businesses and residences have been given incentives to invest in solar panels. For example, the government has removed subsidies on diesel fuel.

If the trend continues, mining via batteries will become more relevant in the coming years. Switching to green energy will make nature carbon-free.

Solar powered mining farms

The cost of electricity generating equipment is changing. For example, Marathon Digital Holdings will build a solar-powered mining farm in Texas. The panels will cover 70% of the data center’s needs.

On June 25, 2022, a farm with panels started operating in the United States. The data center was organized by Aspen Creek Digital. The capacity of the equipment is 6 megawatts. The firm announced the construction of two more data centers, which will be 5-20 times more powerful.

Conclusions

The pronounced disadvantage of the equipment is low uptime of mining hardware. If the electricity storage problem can be solved, the renewable source will become payback.

Nevertheless, by January 2023, large companies are showing interest in renewable sources. Governments of countries like China are showing concern due to the high energy consumption of mining. PV cells are an inevitable stage of the cryptocommunity.

Frequently Asked Questions