Green Mining

[Tomekeeper]

Would someone who might know reveal what the average power consumption of a decent mining rig is? 

99% of the mining discussions right now suggest that the big limiter on mining efficiency is local power consumption costs.  It stands to follow then that by overcoming part, or all, of that cost would heavily increase the payout of running it. 

Premise:  Solar energy has already been proven to be able to power entire homes.  Unlike what I first thought about this idea when I heard of it, upon visit a friend of mine who does this, there was no inclination on his or his family's behalf to not run the oven, microwave, house lights, or any other amenity at full tilt for as long as they wanted, courtesy of Ye Olde Helios.  The power generation available through solar is substantial, so I would like to remove that from the equation from the outset before anyone tells me how bad an idea that is; it's obviously and evidently viable.  The pricing for that is very straightforward and I'd rather discuss it in terms of powering something less than an entire house -- namely, just a mining array.

I don't know the electricity consumption averages though so that I can estimate the input required.  The ideal setup would run pure solar without any battery reliance, which would limit the daily mining cycles to daylight hours only.  As this would reduce the cost exclusively to hardware + internet, and that sounds pretty good to me, despite the reduced mining time.

Has anyone tried something like this already and be willing to share their experience?

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[matthewh3]

A decent single rig about 1KW.  That's like x3 ATi Radeon HD 7970's with either a low voltage or underclocked CPU running off USB instead of a Hard-drive using one stick of RAM.

[Tomekeeper]

Awesome    First point of data.  ty!

[CA Coins]

I wouldn't go with solar just to help power your rigs (other reasons sure).  Not cost effective.  If you want to be efficient and are willing to pay more for equipment, go with FPGAs.  Higher upfront cost, but much better MHs/Kw.  GPUs you're looking at ~2MH/Watt at best, FPGAs you're looking at ~20MH/Watt.  I pull 4GH/s on 250watts at the plug on FPGAs.

By the way, how much does it cost now to get a solar system that can supply 1kw/h of electricity 24/7?  I guess batteries wouldn't be practical, so maybe just 1kw of installed power?

[John (John K.)]

I wouldn't go with solar just to help power your rigs (other reasons sure).  Not cost effective.  If you want to be efficient and are willing to pay more for equipment, go with FPGAs.  Higher upfront cost, but much better MHs/Kw.  GPUs you're looking at ~2MH/Watt at best, FPGAs you're looking at ~20MH/Watt.  I pull 4GH/s on 250watts at the plug on FPGAs.

By the way, how much does it cost now to get a solar system that can supply 1kw/h of electricity 24/7?  I guess batteries wouldn't be practical, so maybe just 1kw of installed power?

I second that, go get FPGA's rather then solar energy. Unless you live in the tropics or somewhere where sunlight is almost guaranteed for most of the year.

[drewtaz]

I dont really run a "mining rig" persay, just my gaming computer with a 5850. At the wall that actively uses 241 watts while mining.
Output is usually 300 MH/s.

[MXRider]

I think the ratio is important. Keep adjusting until you have over 1Mhash/W

[Vernon715]

Depending on location, you could use a small scale wind turbine.

This would be more practical in more rural areas, or near the coast.

[bittenbob]

I think everyone here will be very interested in an article that will be in the 2nd issue of Bitcoin Magazine.

[Tomekeeper]

I think everyone here will be very interested in an article that will be in the 2nd issue of Bitcoin Magazine.

Do tell?

[finway]

tomekeeper or tombkeeper?

[arcticlava]

tomekeeper

[bittenbob]

I think everyone here will be very interested in an article that will be in the 2nd issue of Bitcoin Magazine.

Do tell?

There will (should) be an article on how to build your own solar powered mining rig.

[CA Coins]

Do solar panels on the roof also cool the house (like being in the shade from a tree)?  My garage gets hot as hell during the summer (110+F).

[bittenbob]

Do solar panels on the roof also cool the house (like being in the shade from a tree)?  My garage gets hot as hell during the summer (110+F).

Well with a decent standoff they should in theory cool your roof. Solar panels themselves generate heat when under full sun so mounting them flush to the roof might actually make it warmer and possibly present a fire risk. The standoff in theory means your roof will be shaded and you will only have the radiant heat from the panels themselves contributing to heating your roof. Depending on which way the building is facing and the surrounding buildings/trees the walls might be a more significant contributor to heat in the garage. Having a vent near the top and forcing air from a low point in the room will do a lot to naturally cool it off.

[Edit]
You can also force the hot air out using a powered vent instead of intake. It also will probably be less of a tripping hazard.

[CA Coins]

Good to know.  I will give the vents a try, thanks.

[bittenbob]

If you happen to have a river running under your garage you could construct a windcatcher too. I cant really think of a way without wasting a lot of water to set this up in North America though. The setup with the vents would be my first option.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windcatcher

[matthewh3]

You could also change your electricity supplier to one that supply's green electricity.  There is a company in the UK 'Good Energy' - http://www.goodenergy.co.uk/ - That supply's electricity sourced 100% renewable energy sources.