Market conditions and energy costs significantly reduced the profitability of cryptocurrency mining. As a result, large and small miners are forced to turn to renewable energy to reduce the operating costs of mining.
The future of mining lies in solar energy
Cryptocurrency miners are trying to reduce their costs since the advent of Bitcoin. Now, due to the adverse conditions of the cryptocurrency market, this desire is becoming more and more critical.
Consequently, some miners began to use solar energy to carry out their operations. For example, the user of Reddit “cadese” claims that he uses solar panels to significantly reduce costs, saying:
Bitcoin mining makes me use solar energy. I just installed solar panels to control mining in the afternoon. Not only does my house heat up, but I also reduced the cost of mining by 75%.
My solarpowered mining-rig went viral on Reddit 🌞😎 https://t.co/yUWLDR5NDJ
– Christian Ander (@nderchris) March 13, 2019
In November 2018, Coinshares Research published a technical paper that explored trends, costs, and energy consumption in bitcoin mining. According to the authors, the study shows that most occur in global regions containing accessible sources of renewable energy. In addition, the report notes that about 80% of production is powered by renewable energy sources.
The use of solar panels is becoming more economical than standard electricity. For example, Azultec Cube300 states that miners can generate cryptocurrency with the ability to “use renewable energy and recover up to 72 percent of the heat generated.”
For smaller miners, more and more solutions become available. For example, Cryptosolartech is a project whose main goal is to develop the largest cryptocurrency mining farm on renewable energy sources. According to the Cryptosolartech website:
At Cryptosolartech, we look forward to 3,000 specialized ASICs that compete with large pools, due to the fact that we have the best equipment and technology on the market. The equipment is supplied with renewable energy produced by our own photovoltaic plants, which makes this activity efficient.
Companies like Solar Alliance Energy Inc. – a supplier of residential, commercial and industrial solar installations – focused on the amazing role that renewable energy can play to support the development of a cryptocurrency industry.
In November 2018, Solar Alliance Energy signed an agreement with NuYen Blockchain on the development of cryptocurrency mining in Merfisboro, Illinois. This facility supports the renewal of the community of Murphysboro through the initiative of green energy jobs.
