Bitcoin mining at home using solar energy — is it worth it?
Solar panels are a great way to save electricity, but are they enough to mine Bitcoin?
Introduction to mining Bitcoin with solar panels
Bitcoin mining interest skyrocketed last year. Many people at home are looking to acquire their own ASIC miners and start mining. However, most are not sure if they could turn a profit from domestic mining.
The increasing competitiveness and difficulty of mining are driving people to look for new ways to cut costs.
This article will focus exclusively on generating energy through solar panels. If you’re interested in other ways to cut costs and increase revenue, check our article below:
In that scenario, solar panels are a sustainable alternative to feed cheap electricity to mining hardware. But to what extent?
Let’s look at some data and see if solar panels could help miners reach increased profitability.
How much do solar panels generate?
To determine whether it is viable to mine Bitcoin with solar panels, let’s first look into the basics of solar energy generation.
Typically, a domestic solar panel in the US can generate between 250 to 380 watts, depending on the efficiency. Let’s round that up to 315 watts on average.
To estimate how much energy such a panel can produce, you must multiply that number by the total hours of sunlight where you reside.
For example, assuming your location has 6 hours of direct sunlight, and multiplying that by 315 watts, your solar panel would produce approximately 1.89kW per day.
According to the EIA, the average electricity price for residential use in the USA is $0.14 per kilowatt per hour. A single solar panel generating 1.89 kW daily would save you $7.93 a month or $95.25 a year in electricity.
We’ll use this data to analyze the viability of solar-powered Bitcoin mining.
Bitcoin mining energy consumption
Now, let’s look at the mining hardware data and pair it with solar panels’ energy generation.
Bitmain’s Antminer S19 Pro has an energy consumption of 3,250W, which equals 78kW per day. Thus, running this ASIC miner uninterrupted would cost you $10.92 a day or $327.6 a month.
This is an illustrative example, but each miner’s case is different. If you need help calculating your electricity costs, make sure you check out our guide:
As we mentioned above, the average solar panel can generate 1.89kW daily. That means that with one single solar panel, you can feed an S19 Pro around 2.4% of the total energy it needs to run.
Things to consider
Even knowing how much ASIC miners consume, it’s hard to estimate how many solar panels you need to cover accurately.
There are many factors to consider to properly calculate solar energy generation.
Weather conditions and solar panel efficiency
Solar energy production is inconsistent. Many external factors — like weather conditions, geographical location, or panel placement — can affect the energy output.
Additionally, there are many different types, sizes, and features of solar panels. However, the most relevant characteristic to energy output is their wattage.
Wattage is the amount of energy a solar panel can produce at standard conditions.
Nevertheless, wattage doesn’t equal output. If the weather doesn’t favor it, your solar panels could end up producing much less energy than their total capacity.
Purchase and installation costs
If you’re planning to install a solar array exclusively as an investment to mine Bitcoin, you should also consider purchase and installation costs.
These expenses also vary according to location. For example, in the United States, there is a tax credit for installing solar panels, which significantly reduces the final cost.
According to Forbes, solar panels go for between $1 and $1.50 per watt. Additionally, a 3.25 kWh solar array to fully power an S19 Pro would cost you between $3,250 and $4,875.
This is without including installation services, which can go between $15,000 and $25,000.
Now, at today’s difficulty and price, an S19 Pro earns about $3,755 per year, meaning that it would take you 5 to 6 years* to break even on your solar power system.
*This numbers are very prone to change as they’re influenced by Bitcoin’s mining difficulty, hashrate, and price. However, they’re useful to put things into perspective.
Additional costs
Beginner miners tend to overlook some aspects of mining that involve extra costs, like cooling systems or specific components to improve the reliability of their internet connection.
Cooling is extremely important as it has a direct impact on miner performance and lifespan. Mining hardware kept in sub-optimum conditions will likely deteriorate faster, becoming defective after a few years or even months.
If you want to learn more about how to properly maintain your ASIC miners, check our article below:
On the other hand, a stable internet connection can help mining consistency and avoid downtimes, improving performance and with it, profitability. To achieve that, having a good non-rental modem and professional router is a must.
Available space
Even if you can afford a large-enough solar array to power up your mining operations, you need to see that your home has enough roof or free space to install it.
The solar panels that produce 315W are usually 1.6 square meters or 17.2 square feet large. For an S19 Pro, you’d need 10.3 panels like that to cover the total energy consumption.
Final thoughts
As you can see, it is cumbersome to rely solely on solar panels to power a mining operation or even one ASIC miner.
Current solar energy technology isn’t scalable and doesn’t produce enough electricity to support ASIC miners. You’d need several panels and significant space to install an array for one single miner.
Additionally, the variations of climatic conditions and overall output may force you to turn off your miners from time to time, affecting your profitability and revenue.
Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean that solar panels aren’t a sustainable long-term investment to gradually reduce the cost of your operation by lowering your electricity expenses.
Moreover, data shows that the cost of a solar energy installation at home has dropped over 70% in the past years, while efficiency has increased drastically.
That is a reason to be optimistic in the long term. With increasing efficiency and decreasing costs, Bitcoin could be mined using exclusively solar energy in the future.
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