How to use wind energy to mine Bitcoin?

The excessive energy consumption of Bitcoin mining rigs has cast doubts whether it’s feasible to use wind energy to mine Bitcoin. While there are many reasons to doubt the reliability of renewable energy sources in cryptocurrency mining operations, wind is the largest provider of green energy in the United States and the second-largest in the world only coming before solar energy. 

Despite accounting for more than 6% of the electricity in the world, its suitability in crypto mining depends on various factors such as wind speed and location of the mining operations. Below, we dive deeper into how to use wind energy to mine Bitcoin or any other energy-hungry cryptocurrency.

How is wind energy generated?

As the name suggests, wind energy comes from the wind. To convert wind into energy, wind turbines are mounted and the wind turns its blades which are mounted on a rotor. The rotor sends the blades’ rotational energy to a generator which then changes it to electricity. Wind turbines can either be horizontally or vertically mounted, with horizontally mounted turbines being the most common due to their efficiency.

Advantages and disadvantages of using wind energy to mine Bitcoin

Advantages of using wind energy in crypto mining

• It’s renewable thus doesn’t release greenhouse gases that are harmful to the environment.
• It’s low cost and requires less maintenance.
• Once installed, there are no more bills from the power company thus increasing your profits in the long run.
• Wind turbines are reliable and built to perform optimally in a variety of conditions such as storms and fierce winds.
• It can be used to power both large and small crypto mining operations

Disadvantages of mining Bitcoin with wind power

• It requires a high initial setup cost thus hindering its uptake among small-scale and home-based cryptocurrency miners.
• It depends on the wind making it unpredictable and only suitable in areas where wind can blow without being hindered by buildings or forest cover.
• Wind is inconsistent since not everyday has strong winds to turn the blades on the turbines.

Things to consider before installing wind turbines to power your rigs

Your location – This should be among your top considerations since strong winds are found on mountainous regions and on fields with less tree cover.

Wind speed – Now that the location is ideal, is the available wind speed enough to easily turn the turbines? A slight change in the speed of wind can translate to more or less power to your cryptocurrency mining machines.

The area temperature – What does temperature have to do with wind? Good question. The denser the air the stronger the wind strength to drive turbines, the more the resultant electrical energy. The cooler the temperature, the denser the air.

How to use wind energy to mine Bitcoin

• Determine the amount of electrical energy you need – This is actually the second step after determining the location, wind speed, and the temperature are ideal. Next, calculate the energy requirements of your rigs as this will determine the number of wind turbines you’ll need and the final cost of installing the system.
• Choose your wind turbines – There are two types of wind turbines; horizontal and vertical-axis. Horizontal turbines are the most common since they have a higher efficiency rating.
• Install the wind turbines – Here, the manufacturer’s manual will come in handy. However, the process includes assembling the turbines, mounting it on a tower and doing the necessary cabling.
• Connect to a battery system – This is used to store the power supplied by the turbine’s generator and can be used to run rigs even when there’s no wind to turn the turbines.
• Interface the battery system with your mining rigs – Some turbines convert the AC electricity released by the generator into DC current and then back to AC using an inverter to ensure that it matches the frequency and phase of what is provided by the grid. You can choose to have the turbine supply DC power, you store it in batteries, then you convert the power to AC to power your rigs.
• Monitor your system – Monitoring your wind power system helps check whether the turbines are producing power as required and the rigs are receiving enough power. It also helps to know when maintenance is due.

Can wind energy power rigs throughout the day/year?

Provided that your location has the quality of wind needed to run a wind turbine and you have a reliable battery system to store excess power, then it’s possible to comfortably mine crypto using wind energy throughout the day/year. Where wind energy isn’t sufficient, you can combine it with other green energy sources such as solar.

Endless Mining is ready to work with crypto miners planning to embrace wind energy or those looking for professional guidance on the best types or manufacturers of wind turbines, energy calculations for their mining rigs, or whether their locations are ideal to generate reliable wind energy for their Bitcoin mining machines.