3 ms·
Many things are possible, but I don't think this particular idea is very promising from an economic standpoint. First, you reduce the need for extra power cabl
by WJW 3y ago
Many things are possible, but I don't think this particular idea is very promising from an economic standpoint.
First, you reduce the need for extra power cables but in exchange you now need internet cables going to all the solar panels.
Second, for any capital good you need to take into account the utilization rate during its lifetime. Imagine you have a server costing 10k with an expected lifespan of 5 years. This means it needs to earn about 2k per year. Depending on how much power it uses, it may well be that 50% utilization with only cheap electricity is still less profitable than 100% utilization with cheap electricity 50% of the time and expensive electricity 50% of the time.
Third, physical servers need maintenance every once in a while. It will be mcuh cheaper to organize that if all the servers are in a few central locations than if they are spread out. (this was originally one of the main selling points of electricity in the first place! You could finally build your factory where the people and the resources were, rather than having to go where the power was)
Finally there are other options to consider which solve the same problem at potentially a lower cost, like building out the grid and introducing more demand response in the industrial base.