Is anyone mining using solar panels? ☀️ \ stacker news ~bitcoin

6184 sats \ 35 comments \ @satoshiplanet 6 Nov 2023 bitcoin

Finally solar panels in my house, bye bye electric oligopolies 👋 the thing is that I think it's a good time to start mining btc.

My goal is to contribute to the network while I learn and understand the whole process so I will not invest in equipment, earning satoshis in this case is the least of it.

Unfortunately my technical knowledge is very limited and I would need to start from scratch. Any help? Thanks ✌️

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39 sats \ 2 replies \ @nullcount 6 Nov 2023

Here's a solar mining farm tour:

Generally, you won't find many off-grid solar mines. Too unreliable, and power cycling the ASICs does wear them out faster due to thermal expansion causing micro fractures in the silicon.

More common are smaller solar installations that are still attached to the grid. So you have backup power to keep rigs running 24/7.

When miners are calculating the breakeven time for purchasing an asic, they assume its going to run 24/7, they assume constant $/kwh cost, flat BTC price and they assume 4-10% difficulty increase each adjustment.

So right away, with an unreliable source that works 1/3 of the time on a good day, you're instantly uncompetitive with grid miners or off grid using reliable energy like burning hydrocarbons or hydroelectric generation.

These days, you're probably better off selling 100% of the extra power to the grid than selling it to Bitcoin.

But things can change. It could flip back to be more cost effective to mine than to sell energy to grid. Like it was in 2020-2021 post china mining ban.

But since your power bill is basically 0 or negative, just plug in an asic and run it on the grid 24/7. Install a custom firmware on it so you can underclock it to be more efficient with your "free" energy.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @nullcount 6 Nov 2023

Also read this, Mining for the Streets: https://diverter.hostyourown.tools/mining-for-the-streets/

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @satoshiplanet OP 7 Nov 2023

👀

5 sats \ 1 reply \ @fedelang 6 Nov 2023

Question, when you say bye bye,.. you mean you are off-grid now? or is still your meter attached to the grid in a grid tie arrangement?

Also, If your system can't make a total output between 4-5kW don't bother mining unless.. you just want to spend money on a learning experience. Between 2-3 kW will be allocated to the miner. You may use Braiins OS so you can scale back hashrate if you need more power available to your domestic use.

In order to avoid frustration I always recommend that mining should be done at a profit (obvious right?). I don't see solar as "profitable" BUT, it all depends how you look at the investment.

Most ppl I know that have solar here, they want it, period. So basically it acts as a sunken cost, in many cases as a "UPS System" that aims to replace a genset. So in those scenarios, You just need to consider you own generated KWh as 0 cost reflecting no capex returns.

What I would do in that case is calculate how much yearly conservative figure you can get from total amount of kWh and check at an average how much you will need to buy from utility, then average it.

Grid tie systems can work well if you sell the energy to bitcoin through mining.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @fedelang 6 Nov 2023

Also, mining only when the sun comes out is negligent. Remember bitcoin mining is a race, you need to be up as much as you can because: hashrate is always running up and clock is always ticking for the next halving.

Your miner capex from a USD/Ths should paid in full (IMHO) in less than 18 months.

2 sats \ 1 reply \ @quark 6 Nov 2023

Actually it is the worst time to start mining BTC. Look at the hashrate chart. But if you think long term, yes the present is always the best time to start mining BTC because in the future it seems it will be more expensive. Unless they ban Bitcoin or something worse.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @satoshiplanet OP 6 Nov 2023

Thanks for commenting ✌️

2 sats \ 2 replies \ @td 6 Nov 2023

Depending on where you are in the world I think you would need quite a large array, probably larger than what would fit on a regular house, at least here in the UK. On top of that you'll need a battery storage system to keep it running overnight.

It's a great idea though, let us know how you get on!

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @satoshiplanet OP 6 Nov 2023

Actually, during the night and on cloudy days the energy is supplied by my traditional provider instead of solar cells and the surplus is sold to the supplier

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @td 6 Nov 2023

Some parts of this country have a "night tariff" which is much cheaper than the daytime rate. Was thinking that this combined with a battery array could be a cost efficient way to run a rig by only ever buying "night tariff" energy. Not something I have explored in great depth though I'm sorry to say.

1 sat \ 0 replies \ @sharp 7 Nov 2023

BitAxe runs on 5VDC and is well suited to solar.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @arealpeacemonger 15 Mar

I know this is an older thread, but I just got a solar powered mine setup. I think it's doable and beneficial, especially if you also incorporate heat capture from the miner.

This link will take you to my thoughts about the project so far: #466029

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @kakocuro 18 Nov 2023

I've been playing with this idea too. I usually use about 1/3 of the output from the solar panels and sell 2/3. Currently, the resell price is so low that it is not even beneficial to sell it. So was thinking to hook up miner as well. But only run it during the day when it is sunny.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @nullama 7 Nov 2023

For proper mining you need a lot of continuous power.

It's relatively difficult to get that with solar. You would need a large surface area, and also big batteries.

You can do this as a fun experiment though, using a small home miner like the Apollo for example, or even a Compact F. The Apollo requires up to about 300W from memory but you can configure it to consume less by running it slower. The Compact F is USB powered (5V and up to about 3A, so up to 15W for 300GH/s or so) and can also be configured to run slower, so it can be run with less than 15W, although that would be at pretty much negligible hash rate. The Apollo on the other hand can get up to 2-3TH/s.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @satoshiplanet OP 7 Nov 2023

👀

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @knorozov 6 Nov 2023

In the country I was born, you now have to pay to deliver back to the grid, because so many people have panels. I was laughing so hard, warned people for this.

It's technology for charging your phone when you're on a long hike, that's it.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @0fje0 6 Nov 2023

You may have seen this:

https://www.cell.com/joule/fulltext/S2542-4351(23)00402-6

Rising energy procurement costs and declining capital costs for renewable technologies are provoking interest in self-sufficiency for individual buildings. In this study, we evaluate the potential of self-sufficient energy supply for 41 million freestanding single-family buildings under current and future (2050) conditions.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @lightwalker 6 Nov 2023

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0 sats \ 1 reply \ @2bithits 6 Nov 2023

Looking into this a bit too. Funny how rising electricity prices create the inventive to get moving on energy.

I think solar only works if you live in the right place. Then its only available 1/3 of the day. A battery might help.

I see the sovereign energy ideal as completely unsolved so far.

50 sats \ 0 replies \ @satoshiplanet OP 7 Nov 2023

+300 days a year are sunny in my country ✌️

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @xsilentg 6 Nov 2023

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0 sats \ 1 reply \ @theswissroadtocrypto 6 Nov 2023

you might want to check out https://nakamotoheating.com they also have a YouTube channel. basically it is diy heating systems for your house with old s9 miners. maybe you will find some insights into how to connect to solar panels

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @satoshiplanet OP 7 Nov 2023

Awesome 💥 thanks for sharing

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @anon 6 Nov 2023

I don't know if the costs are low enough for consumer use. After you add in battery and all the systems that go into keeping them charged you are going to find profitability difficult at best.

This may be better for a scenario where you intend to have an off grid solar setup anyways. Be smart and you can also use this as a jumping point to heat your home as well. That way your solar system has use that is not exclusive to Bitcoin mining, making the costs easier to tolerate and you find dual utility by using your miner as a heater also. This can further help reduce cost and maximize profitability.

The Bitcoin mining is the easy part, you'll need to brush yourself up with solar systems. This is not as hard as you might think. I highly suggest looking up "Will prowls" on youtube. He will teach you EVERYTHING you need to know about solar. #1 thing people fuck up is using improperly gauged wire for the load. Dedicate 100 hours of research and study and you'll have more than enough knowledge to handle beginner solar systems.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @evanbaer 6 Nov 2023

This guy is worth a look

https://twitter.com/100AcresRanch

He's selling a setup with DC power direct to the ASIC (way more efficient)

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @satoshiplanet OP 6 Nov 2023

👀

0 sats \ 4 replies \ @Wumbo 6 Nov 2023

I have a couple questions for you to help me recommend some options:

How many watts of panels do you have?
Do you have a grid tie (doesn't work when grid power is down) or a transfer switch?
Do you have any battery storage?
How do you current heat your house? Gas, electric, or other?

316 sats \ 3 replies \ @satoshiplanet OP 6 Nov 2023

9 cells (400watts) = 3600watts Grid tie, no battery

Yesterday Total : 13,7 KW/h Consumed | 6.9 KW/h Surplus | 6.8 KW/h

236 sats \ 2 replies \ @kepford 6 Nov 2023

If you want to learn you could check out the nerd miner project. Not gonna stack sats but its a cool little project.

You could grab a used S9 and run it using your excess power. They are very affordable and easy to work on. Check out Kaboomracks

Also the Home Mining Wizards telegram is great.

10 sats \ 1 reply \ @justBrian 6 Nov 2023

Id second the used s9 option. Follow the s9 space heater guide from cryptocloaks.com, and now you are mining from home with excess energy and heating your home with heat produced by miner. 🤯

50 sats \ 0 replies \ @kepford 6 Nov 2023

Yes, the heater option is great. You can underclock and replace the fans to reduce noise.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @anon 6 Nov 2023

How many watts are you producing /24h? A bitaxe is a good starting point for learning, or if you need the heat d-central.tech has s17 space heaters Mining can eat all the energy you produce quite easily so be careful lol

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @WeAreAllSatoshi 6 Nov 2023

Subscribed. I would like to hear more about this

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @lightwalker 6 Nov 2023

Nice plan. Decentralized energy sources is ideal. Have same plans to do mining in Africa.

I think this may be helpful:

TL;DR Edited:

The electricity to run your bit mining operation is free once you’ve installed your solar panels. You won’t have to worry about paying for electricity for years to come since modern solar panels last for several decades.

The biggest cost of solar-powered Bitcoin mining lies in the initial solar panel quote. There are few, if any, ongoing costs. And the result is a steady stream of passive income that can mount up over time.

Solar-powered bitcoin mining is a green, eco-friendly solution.

Additionally, there are many reasons why a power grid will experience interruption. Although solar power is immune to most of them! Once your system is installed, Solar power provides a robust, reliable form of energy once your system is fully installed.

If you like being independent and self-reliant, solar power provides a dependable source of energy that’s exclusively yours.

Freedom Solar Power

5 sats \ 0 replies \ @nullcount 6 Nov 2023

Nobody mines BTC on GPUs anymore. Mining (consuming energy) does not harm the environment. Rather, producing energy in a reckless way is what harms the environment. Blame the source of the problem not the people downstream of the problem.

Idk why you claim solar is reliable or robust when its literally unusable for most of the day.