logoalt Hacker News

testing22321today at 2:24 PM1 replyview on HN

Maybe a basic question - do miners use solar?

Prices are dropping so fast it seems like the cheapest way to power mining rigs.

Also free grid electricity for three hours a day in Australia will be interesting.


Replies

tgsovlerkhgseltoday at 3:58 PM

They generally use whatever is available and cheapest. However, due to the constant power demand and the capital cost involved (you don't want your miners sitting idle), if that isn't grid power, its often either "reliable" renewables (e.g. hydro), "stranded" fossil energy (e.g. gas that would otherwise be flared off), or in the worst case, literally buying a coal power plant that was about to shut down just to power a Bitcoin mine.