Solar Panel Considerations

[thepriceinsats]

Hey Guys,

Planning to stick some solar panels on the roof (14/16) and intend to run a miner (s9) or similar, little older that won't take all the juice and be comfortable on battery when the sun isn't shining.

Any considerations I should know about?

Planning to run it as a lottery miner, interested in the heat side.

[1714604764]

1714604764

[1714604764]

1714604764

[Outhue]

S9 comes with 14TH and they take up to 1372 watt from the socket.

Is your solar setup have twice or more f this power?

Also with 14TH you will only earn $1.46 every 24hours mining Bitcoin, for how long is it going to take you to get your money back depends on how much you buy the S9.

Right now you can get a s9 from $204 to $230, do not forget that this miner is profitable today because Bitcoin is over 60k in price, it could look ugly when or if Bitcoin goes down, but if gathering those juicy satoshis is what you care about then its not bad.


Now, for the solar setup, do you think its wise to spend money on solar just to get a s9 running 24/7? Because this will make your ROI to become a long term to achieve, a $230 spent on a s9 will take 140days to make back but if you plan to make the money you spent on solar panels, inverter and betteries with just a S9 it will take like forever to do.

My 1500watt solar setup with 2500 inverter and solar betteries cost me $2000 in 2022, now things are more costly, i don't have information how much it costs today, and to even make this money back with an S9 will take up to 4 years and that's if the profit remains $1.46 per day.

[Yamane_Keto]

It is best to have enough space for 16 panels, since if we assume that each panel produces 265 W, the total capacity is 4,240 kW.
The following table shows you the profitability of mining hardware https://www.asicminervalue.com

Options that generate profits, such as Bitmain Antminer KS5 (20Th), Bitmain Antminer KS3 (9.4Th), and IceRiver KS3, all require averages higher than 3200W, so you may not have enough to charge the battery.
You can increase the number of panels, but the space will be governed by the equation 165 W per 1 m² and cost.

You have the cost of purchasing the panels.
The extra space.
Battery costs.
Purchase mining equipment.
Insulation and electrical circuits.
You should calculate your profits well, assuming that the price of Bitcoin is around $60,000, so that you will achieve profits as long as the price is higher than this price.

[KiaKia]

It is best to have enough space for 16 panels, since if we assume that each panel produces 265 W, the total capacity is 4,240 kW.
The following table shows you the profitability of mining hardware https://www.asicminervalue.com

Options that generate profits, such as Bitmain Antminer KS5 (20Th), Bitmain Antminer KS3 (9.4Th), and IceRiver KS3, all require averages higher than 3200W, so you may not have enough to charge the battery.
You can increase the number of panels, but the space will be governed by the equation 165 W per 1 m² and cost.

You have the cost of purchasing the panels.
The extra space.
Battery costs.
Purchase mining equipment.
Insulation and electrical circuits.
You should calculate your profits well, assuming that the price of Bitcoin is around $60,000, so that you will achieve profits as long as the price is higher than this price.

Battery is the main problem here.

It's easier to throw anything at the solar panels when the sun is up and shining but not the batteries.

The battery setup that will carry a 3500-watt machine from the moment when the sun sets to the next morning before the sun is up again is crazy.

This will cost you a lot more money since you won't be able to use 50% of the battery bank to avoid degrading the battery very fast, for a long-lasting battery operation it's better to always use 50% or 60% of the battery bank and charge it back.

Do the math, you will be discouraged.

The best solution is to use the Grid power at night and the sun in the day, battery is nah.

[mindrust]

It is best to have enough space for 16 panels, since if we assume that each panel produces 265 W, the total capacity is 4,240 kW.
The following table shows you the profitability of mining hardware https://www.asicminervalue.com

Options that generate profits, such as Bitmain Antminer KS5 (20Th), Bitmain Antminer KS3 (9.4Th), and IceRiver KS3, all require averages higher than 3200W, so you may not have enough to charge the battery.
You can increase the number of panels, but the space will be governed by the equation 165 W per 1 m² and cost.

You have the cost of purchasing the panels.
The extra space.
Battery costs.
Purchase mining equipment.
Insulation and electrical circuits.
You should calculate your profits well, assuming that the price of Bitcoin is around $60,000, so that you will achieve profits as long as the price is higher than this price.

Battery is the main problem here.

It's easier to throw anything at the solar panels when the sun is up and shining but not the batteries.

The battery setup that will carry a 3500-watt machine from the moment when the sun sets to the next morning before the sun is up again is crazy.

This will cost you a lot more money since you won't be able to use 50% of the battery bank to avoid degrading the battery very fast, for a long-lasting battery operation it's better to always use 50% or 60% of the battery bank and charge it back.

Do the math, you will be discouraged.

The best solution is to use the Grid power at night and the sun in the day, battery is nah.

50% rule applies to sealed lead acid type batteries as far as I know.

Li-ion and LiFePO4 batteries can be fully discharged without any problems. (These packs have battery controller chips which cuts power when the pack voltage drops below a certain point) However, li-ion packs usually can be charged/discharged 500 times before they lose 80% of their full capacity which means they won’t last more than 1.5-2 years while LiFePO4 packs can be charged 2000 times. (Can theoretically last up to 10 years)

Then another problem arises, SLA batteries are cheap but heavy and inefficient. Lithium batteries are light and efficient but expensive.

As you said though, solar system isn’t the best idea for mining. Not for bitcoin mining that’s for sure.

You can get away with it if you mine alts on a few low power GPU’s but I don’t think it makes much sense to run asics on solar.

[KiaKia]

It is best to have enough space for 16 panels, since if we assume that each panel produces 265 W, the total capacity is 4,240 kW.
The following table shows you the profitability of mining hardware https://www.asicminervalue.com

Options that generate profits, such as Bitmain Antminer KS5 (20Th), Bitmain Antminer KS3 (9.4Th), and IceRiver KS3, all require averages higher than 3200W, so you may not have enough to charge the battery.
You can increase the number of panels, but the space will be governed by the equation 165 W per 1 m² and cost.

You have the cost of purchasing the panels.
The extra space.
Battery costs.
Purchase mining equipment.
Insulation and electrical circuits.
You should calculate your profits well, assuming that the price of Bitcoin is around $60,000, so that you will achieve profits as long as the price is higher than this price.

Battery is the main problem here.

It's easier to throw anything at the solar panels when the sun is up and shining but not the batteries.

The battery setup that will carry a 3500-watt machine from the moment when the sun sets to the next morning before the sun is up again is crazy.

This will cost you a lot more money since you won't be able to use 50% of the battery bank to avoid degrading the battery very fast, for a long-lasting battery operation it's better to always use 50% or 60% of the battery bank and charge it back.

Do the math, you will be discouraged.

The best solution is to use the Grid power at night and the sun in the day, battery is nah.

50% rule applies to sealed lead acid type batteries as far as I know.

Li-ion and LiFePO4 batteries can be fully discharged without any problems. (These packs have battery controller chips which cuts power when the pack voltage drops below a certain point) However, li-ion packs usually can be charged/discharged 500 times before they lose 80% of their full capacity which means they won’t last more than 1.5-2 years while LiFePO4 packs can be charged 2000 times. (Can theoretically last up to 10 years)

Then another problem arises, SLA batteries are cheap but heavy and inefficient. Lithium batteries are light and efficient but expensive.

As you said though, solar system isn’t the best idea for mining. Not for bitcoin mining that’s for sure.

You can get away with it if you mine alts on a few low power GPU’s but I don’t think it makes much sense to run asics on solar.

I get you, I know that Lithium batteries existed but its not recommendable because they are too costly, ROI wise it will take even much longer to recover all your money.

I have got away mining ALTs using graphics card before but still, running on battery isn't very good for me, maybe I will try that LiFePO4 battery in the future just to see how they performs.

The major problems is the amount of power that Asic miners are consuming, that's why it makes more sense to use solar panels during the day and rely on grid power after daybreak.

Thanks for the extra information on batteries.