Great! Block Inc And Blockstream Use Tesla's Solar Cells To Mine Bitcoin

Bitcoin mining can use Tesla's solar panels. (Photo; Brian Wangenheim-Unsplash)

JAKARTA – Bitcoin mining has drawn criticism from various circles, because mining activities are considered to consume large amounts of energy and are not environmentally friendly. Crypto mining companies Blockcstream and Block Inc. (formerly Square) recently announced a mining facility that uses Tesla's solar cells.

Both companies are rumored to be using Tesla's photovoltaic solar cells and the 12 MWh Megapack. The Megapack is a powerful lithium-ion battery that provides energy storage and support. In context, one of the leading publicly traded Bitcoin mining companies, Hut 8 Mining, has approximately 209 MW of total contracted mining capacity.

The aim of this venture is to investigate the feasibility of operating a zero-emission energy Bitcoin mine. Blockstream and Block began collaborating on the project last June, with Block pledging to invest $5 million in its construction.

In addition to the physical construction, the teams at Blockstream and Block will build a publicly accessible dashboard for reporting on the project's economy. Key metrics would include power output, number of Bitcoins mined, storage performance, total uptime, spend and return on investment, etc. It will be accessible 24/7 from any browser.

Bitcoin mining by utilizing solar power is claimed to be carbon neutral. However, a number of parties doubt the use of solar energy for mining BTC. For example, the oldest Bitcoin mining association in the world, Brainins, published in 2021 a feasibility analysis regarding the use of solar energy for Bitcoin mining.

Brainins concluded that it was unprofitable even considering the cost of electricity being nearly free and reusing excess energy during sunny hours.

According to Braiins Chief Marketing Officer, Kristian Csepcsar stated that using traditional metrics to evaluate environmental friendliness does not take into account variables such as chemical production during the manufacture of solar panels, as reported by Cointelegraph.