Using Solar To Power Bitcoin Mining Could Yield Big Profits

Originally published on Lenz Blog.

Tam Hunt discusses the potential to use solar power for Bitcoin mining in this recent article at Greentechmedia. He thinks that may be a good idea.

I agree. As I said in 2014, Bitcoin mining is a nice fit for a desert solar project, since it needs no power line. The work comes to the site of electricity generation, not the other way round.

Hunt mentions a couple of advantages over other solar projects.

One is the fact that you don’t need to bother finding someone to buy your electricity.

Another is that, according to his calculations, people could make more money from mining bitcoins than from just selling the electricity. His numbers show a “net present value” of over $9.3 million for a 1 megawatt project, assuming a bitcoin price of $2500. That compares rather favorably to the $200,000 to $400,000 net present value of normal solar 1 MW projects with a good power sales contract and low development cost.

On the other hand, if you have a PV solar project without storage, you end up mining only half the time without a grid connection. It may make more sense to go with concentrated solar power with an off-grid system.

Anyway, he estimates returns per kWh between 25 and 50 cents from bitcoin mining. Anyone with a basic understanding of solar power costs will agree that, if true, it makes a lot of sense to start some solar bitcoin mining projects in a suitable desert area.

Reprinted with permission.