Crypto Electrical Design - Reducing a Mining Farms Electrical Infrastructure Costs (Part 1 of 5)
by Wesley Terry
What exactly it is that makes design good varies from electrician to electrician. Here at ASIC, we argue that the best design is the one that costs the least amount of money while safely and reliably satisfying the needs of the customer. Here are the TOP THREE TIPS ON HOW TO DESIGN THE ELECTRICAL OF A MINING FARM.
TIP 1 : Keep the voltage as high as possible as far as possible. Higher voltage means smaller wire and smaller equipment. For this reason power companies use high voltage to deliver power throughout the country. Once at your property, a utility transformer is required to step-down this higher voltage into a lower voltage that can be used by your everyday equipment such as miners. Once the voltage is stepped down, a larger size wire is needed to deliver the same amount of power. The larger wire is more expensive and therefore the cost per foot is also more expensive. With this in mind, Your step down transformers should be as close to the miners as possible to reduce the length of the larger more expensive wire.
TIP 2: Reduce and eliminate electrical equipment where you can. In traditional data center installations, it’s common for big distribution switchboards to power various smaller electrical panels throughout the facility. Although expensive, this system is great for the traditional data center because it allows for more flexibility and easier changes to the electrical system as continued construction takes place and demands change. However, the added cost of such distribution panels ($12,000 each at the time of writing) almost never pay themself off for a crypto farm which has no intention of regularly changing out PDUs. Eliminating these pieces of equipment can be done by using clever solutions such as enclosed circuit breakers on the exterior of your utility transformer, or using PDUs rated for service entrance (Ones that can be fed directly from an XFMR). Take a hard look at each component of the design and ask, do I really need this? Or is this just another failure point?
TIP 3: Consult with electricians that are specifically experienced with ASIC mining BEFORE building ANYTHING. One of the best ways to avoid pitfalls is to talk to someone else that has gone through what you are about to do. Lean on the expertise of people that are already in the industry and understand the unique challenges of mining and how it differs from conventional data centers. Your average run of the mill electrical engineer/ electrical contractor may not be a good resource when it comes to mining. Get your advice from people that are specifically in tune with the mining industry. Do this in the design phase, and you are sure to significantly reduce the risk of overspending on your project. Many before you have been severely burned by not doing this.
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