I have 75KW solar power available

[crazyivan]

I am new to these forums as well as new to BitCoin, though I've always followed the price.  My father has a farm with irrigation.  We received some grants to build a small solar farm to power the pivots.  However, because of water calls being made across the state, we find ourself with a brand new 85'x150' shed with a 75KW solar array on the roof with nothing to power.

It's not large enough to sell to the power company (in my state) for cash and I have nothing to net meter in this location (net metering gives us credits to offset consumption at that location).  Should I look at BitCoin mining?  This location is hooked to the grid so I could power the HW day and night.  I just don't know how to make use of this investment that we have made.

Any ideas?

I would say you ve got yourself a nice farm to build.

[philipma1957]

I am new to these forums as well as new to BitCoin, though I've always followed the price.  My father has a farm with irrigation.  We received some grants to build a small solar farm to power the pivots.  However, because of water calls being made across the state, we find ourself with a brand new 85'x150' shed with a 75KW solar array on the roof with nothing to power.

It's not large enough to sell to the power company (in my state) for cash and I have nothing to net meter in this location (net metering gives us credits to offset consumption at that location).  Should I look at BitCoin mining?  This location is hooked to the grid so I could power the HW day and night.  I just don't know how to make use of this investment that we have made.

Any ideas?

I would say you ve got yourself a nice farm to build.

yep he can do it in stages like judypug1956 said.

the s-3's are studs.  once he gets used to seeing how to run them he can decide if making a 50-100 unit farm is what he want to do.
here is a link for a 16 port switch.

http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-ProSAFE-16-Port-Ethernet-Desktop/dp/B000063UZW/ref=sr_1_1?

simple router like this

http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Router-External-Antennas-WNR2020v2/dp/B00MRVJYEI/ref=sr_1_9?

and cat6 cable

http://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters%C2%AE-5-Color-Snagless-Ethernet/dp/B00E5I7XC6/ref=sr_1_3?

the switch = 58
the router = 32
the cables = 48 for 15

that comes to 138   and you can run about 14 units.

[ajandersen]

Wow, you guys are a ton of help! I may purchase a very small system to try out at home first just to figure out what I am doing.  I'm embarrassed to say that as much as I read about bitcoins, the mining part doesn't sound simple and sort of eludes me.  I'm guessing that if I jumped right in with a small setup and learned the ropes a bit then I'd feel more confident building up a farm.

[philipma1957]

Wow, you guys are a ton of help! I may purchase a very small system to try out at home first just to figure out what I am doing.  I'm embarrassed to say that as much as I read about bitcoins, the mining part doesn't sound simple and sort of eludes me.  I'm guessing that if I jumped right in with a small setup and learned the ropes a bit then I'd feel more confident building up a farm.

s-3's are nice they have been around since July of 2014 they work.  you only need a decent internet connection. no pc's are needed.

they run on their own hooked up to a switch then a router

worker's 1 and 2 have been working since July  2014

[notlist3d]

Wow, you guys are a ton of help! I may purchase a very small system to try out at home first just to figure out what I am doing.  I'm embarrassed to say that as much as I read about bitcoins, the mining part doesn't sound simple and sort of eludes me.  I'm guessing that if I jumped right in with a small setup and learned the ropes a bit then I'd feel more confident building up a farm.

s-3's are nice they have been around since July of 2014 they work.  you only need a decent internet connection. no pc's are needed.

they run on their own.

And there are a LOT of them for resell.  So if cheap electricity such as this some can pull a nice profit from them.

It's true they are like tank's on running.   I never had a issue with the ones I had.

[ajandersen]

I think I'll get one or two S3's to try to get familiar with Bitcoin.  When you say to buy them used, do you find them on ebay or is there a more popular source out there?  I don't see a classifieds section on these boards.

[notlist3d]

I think I'll get one or two S3's to try to get familiar with Bitcoin.  When you say to buy them used, do you find them on ebay or is there a more popular source out there?  I don't see a classifieds section on these boards.

If you have a "big" town it's possibe craigslist or something like it.  But by far ebay is most common. There is also a board on this site to buying hardware.

One suggestion is use a decent power supply.  If you get a very cheap PSU it's asking for problems, and efficient is good I personally like gold or better. 

[lex_minutor]

I was going to say look into SRECs (Solar Renewable Energy Credits).
You get SRECs on the amount of energy you generate, don't remember what the factor was, but I think 1000kwh = 1srec
Then you could sell those on the market. It doesn't matter what you did with the power, it's just credits because you generated renewable electricity.
But Idaho doesn't do SRECs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_Renewable_Energy_Certificate)

[ajandersen]

I just purchased an antminer S3 and a power supply on eBay to get my feet wet (http://www.ebay.com/itm/141670019553).  I think in a month or so I may purchase quite a few bitminer machines to take advantage of the power supply.

I'm thinking of waiting for the S6 as it sounds like there are rumors that it will be like the S4 and have the power supply built right in.

[philipma1957]

I just purchased an antminer S3 and a power supply on eBay to get my feet wet (http://www.ebay.com/itm/141670019553).  I think in a month or so I may purchase quite a few bitminer machines to take advantage of the power supply.

I'm thinking of waiting for the S6 as it sounds like there are rumors that it will be like the S4 and have the power supply built right in.

let us know once you set it up.

also feel free to ask for help.

that psu can do 1 s-3 pretty easy.

it may not do 2 very well.

the price you paid is okay.

[ajandersen]

With that much space, do you think I could install 40KW worth of Antminer S5's w/o having to worry about a cooling system?  SE Idaho isn't that hot of a place (mid 90's in July, but cooler the rest of the year).

[philipma1957]

With that much space, do you think I could install 40KW worth of Antminer S5's w/o having to worry about a cooling system?  SE Idaho isn't that hot of a place (mid 90's in July, but cooler the rest of the year).

40kw = 40 x 4000 btu = 160,000 btu  


 my ac is 25000 btu and will drop  a 2000 square  foot home 10f  in  10 hours  say 82 to 72 f

so your 160000 btu of heat   would jump a  14000 square foot space 10f     say 82 f to 92 f


  I think you need two big fans  like these

http://www.lowes.com/pd_416730-11292-SFDC2-600T_1z11on0__?productId=4755305&pl=1&Ntt=fans


1 brings air in 1 brings air out  




               shed  150 ft  long
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     l                                                                              l
     l                                                                              l
     door or window                                                         l
     F>may need a fan here?     push-fan>>>Miners>>>pull-fan>> window door
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 the push fan  and the pull    could be moved around for best spots