Author

Topic: Guide: Building a Solar Powered Mining-Plant (Read 32424 times)

legendary
Activity: 1988
Merit: 1007
February 17, 2014, 06:12:20 PM
#63
Too costly.  Spend 2k$ on farm +10k$ on batteries and panels. You'll have to run this for years to get you money back. (IF you will get them back ever).
By the way, at my location - sun and the wind will not be enought to power any device for a half of a year.

It's like this with any solar system. They are expected to take 12-14 years to pay off in most cases. But they last for almost twice that (or more), so the long term benefits are great. The short term are not.

In the US, you can also get tax rebates, though, that cover like 30% of the cost of your panels and installation. But again, the cost is great; you do this for the long haul, not to earn back your money in a year. If it were that simple, every house in the world would already have solar panels.
newbie
Activity: 8
Merit: 0
February 12, 2014, 10:40:05 AM
#62
Thanks for the info! definitely looking into it
member
Activity: 82
Merit: 10
Too costly.  Spend 2k$ on farm +10k$ on batteries and panels. You'll have to run this for years to get you money back. (IF you will get them back ever).
By the way, at my location - sun and the wind will not be enought to power any device for a half of a year.
cp1
hero member
Activity: 616
Merit: 500
Stop using branwallets
December 31, 2013, 08:23:34 PM
#60
If you're just running miners keep everything dc.  Use dc to dc converter to get 12 or 5 volts.
newbie
Activity: 45
Merit: 0
December 31, 2013, 07:57:07 PM
#59
Hey Now.

Just found your thread. Seeing as how I live in Florida, I thought it might be a sensible idea

All I want to do is place a couple of 13v solar panels on my roof and run them to my Miners.

So far from the research that I've done, I'm gonna need an DC->AC converter, line conditioner and Deep Cycle 12V battery for charging if I'm gonna run 24/7.

Anyone tried this yet?

~ hayduke
hero member
Activity: 938
Merit: 501
December 05, 2013, 07:53:32 PM
#58
I am wondering, if over the time since I posted the original thread people have build solar-powered mining-systems on their own?  Smiley
I just found your thread and I'm still reading it but I plan to move my devices (not only miners) on my home to solar, I live in a city with sun 7 days a week. Thanks for this wonderful information and I hope to get it a real thing and not only a plan on my to-do list Cheesy
newbie
Activity: 11
Merit: 0
December 05, 2013, 07:04:22 PM
#57
I like the general consensus that fossil fuels are as infinite and bountiful as bit ion,all you guys will all be running rigs on reuseables in a generation,unless of course old money and it's chokehold are required to power your currency,bit coin miners are very glib about power whilst stroking their testacles(or clitorus) about their perceived wealth.
Could the original poster get in touch,some of us have vision,posted a solar question recently plenty of views,not an ounce of advice,let's talk dude Wink
member
Activity: 65
Merit: 11
December 03, 2013, 04:51:19 AM
#56
I am wondering, if over the time since I posted the original thread people have build solar-powered mining-systems on their own?  Smiley
hero member
Activity: 526
Merit: 500
November 07, 2013, 09:22:42 PM
#55
Nice, but I think the ROI would be better without using solar, can always go to country which electricity is really cheap...
member
Activity: 117
Merit: 10
November 07, 2013, 02:36:04 PM
#54
what's the ROI?
member
Activity: 68
Merit: 10
September 19, 2013, 07:18:24 PM
#53
Very good post and very useful instructions. Keep up the great work.   Grin
member
Activity: 65
Merit: 11
September 08, 2013, 05:10:56 AM
#52
Good. But you will require special battery to follow up.
Your method is not strong enough as you still need thengrid.

Im running this for a couple of months already... Wink
sr. member
Activity: 462
Merit: 250
Firing it up
Good. But you will require special battery to follow up.

Your method is not strong enough as you still need thengrid.
sr. member
Activity: 574
Merit: 250
Oh man kudos.  And even more for the small stuff Smiley nice to see someone useing a pico psu. Anyhow this is impressive. I never got quite this deep. I'm thinking I need to. I have some breakout cells that will charge a 12v battery during the day and supply a good night and a morning of reserve power. I also have a windmill I picked up for $600 that I can pull enough juice from to run lighting and charge devices with. Together it could substain two people comfortable. That is ofcourse making sure shits OFF.


Blah I'm tired.  Mostly wanted to watch this post but we see how far that went
hero member
Activity: 546
Merit: 500
I just finished my setup using this adjustable stepdown-converter for solar-powering my usb-hub and this converter for solar-powering my raspberry.

[img]http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41QFsBHeCcL._SX342_.jpg[img]

[img]http://i.ebayimg.com/t/KIS3R33S-DC-DC-7-24V-to-5V-3A-USB-Power-Converter-Buck-Module-/00/s/NDY2WDcxNg==/z/x9oAAMXQCtlROcPy/$(KGrHqJ,!q4FE1DPDNBEBROcP)2(7!~~60_12.JPG[img]

Running three Block Erupter USB-Miners along with the raspberry and the hub I am running at 0.8A.
Pretty cool! Smiley

You've obviously gone to a lot of work for all this, I'd love to see some pics of what you came up with in the end. Like panels/battery/charger etc. Maybe put it in the mining hardware pic thread (130+ pages thread)?
member
Activity: 65
Merit: 11
I just finished my setup using this adjustable stepdown-converter for solar-powering my usb-hub and this converter for solar-powering my raspberry.





Running three Block Erupter USB-Miners along with the raspberry and the hub I am running at 0.8A.
Pretty cool! Smiley
member
Activity: 65
Merit: 11
@tom_o:
As of right now I have heatsinked them both.
Besides: The LAN-chip is getting way hotter on a mining-setup like the one I am running.
CPU is probably idling most of the time (or at least running at low utilization).
sr. member
Activity: 308
Merit: 250
Just wondering if you realise you've only heatsinked the LAN chip on your pi - the CPU is actually hiding under the RAM chip!
member
Activity: 65
Merit: 11
I have just updated the initial posting at the beginning of this threat.
I had there an mistake with the premium solar panel. It was not 12Volt-compatible.
I have added a proper solar panel now.
member
Activity: 65
Merit: 11
Could you guys stop fullquoting everything, please?
Thanks in advance. Smiley
sr. member
Activity: 399
Merit: 250
I think it's really expensive to power your house from batteries at night.  Most houses get power from the grid at night.

Wouldn't the batteries be charged during the day though, to where at night all you're doing is burning up the saved energy, then replenishing it (while at the same time generating power for things) during the day?

Yes, but you have to buy the batteries and all the charging equipment.

I was under the impression that all of that was required anyways, to account from the over/underusing (so for ex. if you're generating 1 KW/hour and you happen to use 300 W one hour, you'd have 700 stored away so the next hour you could use 1.7KW and still not have issues).
.....
If only it was 100% efficient....., you don't take into account fully charged  or empty batteries.

Also you have to watch these "criminals" and their solar power ratings for the panels., just consider that you need to at least double or triple up, to ensure that you can use the power AND charge the batteries, if you go that way.... even if you feed surplus into the grid its not the storage capacity you think it is..

I spoke to a 'friend' who has a solar panel factory.. and I was quite shocked, by the time he had finished calculating, we reckoned  on nearly 500 panels for even a small sized mining operation.....

Just run the figures for something about 500w..... over a 24 hour period..... (12 kw) based on a 4-5 hours of full sunlight ...

and these 20% conversion rates are bull*** as well (yep if you can get NASA quality then your in with a chance)





So you mean that if you need, say 10 KW a day, estimate 2 KW per hour and therefore you need at least twice that (4 KW/hour) to account for bad efficiency?

It is not down to just efficiency loss, but published Vrs real ratings... Weather... time of year.... temp of panels... age of panels

I'm saying run the numbers , it's not the gold mine  people say it is, one of the biggest mistakes is failing to understand the difference between KWh and KW

Panels are stated it W or KW. (and you will not believe the shit load of light they hit the panels with to get that rating...)

You cannot have your cake and eat it... I.E you cannot use the power for your rig AND charge the batteries.
So it is AT LEAST double....
I.E
fag paket calculation @ 100% efficiency...
100w rig would need 100wh +100wh to charge the batteries, and if it is a 5 hour charge then that would get you up-to 10 hrs of running time TOTAL. (5hrs sun +5hrs battery)
To run for 24 hrs
You would need 4*100w (20hr battery storage@5hrs)+100w to run the rig(for 5 hours), then after the sun is down you start on the battery....

I.E 500W of panels to run 24Hr @100% efficiency.  (basically a 5:1 ratio).

So 1KW would require 5KW @100% efficiency if I were to require 24hour solar.


Your 10KW is basically 420w/h and if you can get 5 hours sun...
its looking like  2.2kw/h as you said....


But now we have to start throwing in actual efficiency...  god only knows what the panels actual wattage is, but the MORE storage capacity in the battery you have, the better its operation.
I.E if you take lead acid to 'deep discharge', then the efficiency overall drops by as much as 30-40%, that is a third of the Wattage you generate just 'disappears'

http://www.localenergy.org/pdfs/Document%20Library/Lead%20Acid%20Battery%20Efficiency.pdf

Here you are expected to maintain >70% charge state on the batteries..... and just use the 'top' 30%... to get a charge efficiency of ~90% storage conversion, drop below that and your storage efficiency hits 70%

I'd really like to do some research on this, with field values of an actual setup.. but cash is a problem.

If my house had been in a slightly different place, I would be looking to use Water as there is a concrete drainage ditch nearby 1:3 slope... continuous 24hr power...
cp1
hero member
Activity: 616
Merit: 500
Stop using branwallets
From experience in boats and RVs I can say that it's a good idea to keep things simple.

I want to find a guide for the Raspberry Pi & 12v ASICs.

You want to keep everything 12v if you can. Converting to and from A/C induces loss and gets complicated.

The advantage of ASIC is that you can potentially keep adding them until they match what your solar panel is putting out.

I also recommend keeping the whole thing independent on it's own if possible, running either off a leisure battery or another battery setup if you have something cheap or for free.

I don't like batteries; I would much rather store energy as kinetic if possible - like water in a high place. Batteries are always going wrong and they're hard to service. Even forklift batteries get corroded on the fins inside. Sealed batteries are even worse.


Questions:

- 12v USB hub. How to add extra power without using a wallwart?
- Is there a guide for the Raspberry Pi and ASICs? I think if the Pi runs off USB it's unreliable? I've tried the Beaglebone and that's more reliable off USB, running at a lower CPU mhz (300mhz instead of 800mhz I think)
- another way to store 12v energy other than batteries which need replacing?

The Raspberry Pi runs off of a USB power source only.  For storage I saw a kickstarter project for a flywheel if you don't like batteries.
member
Activity: 65
Merit: 11
I want to find a guide for the Raspberry Pi & 12v ASICs.

That should be working with just the same setup I have over here using the "minepeon". Have you tried that already?
hero member
Activity: 900
Merit: 1000
Crypto Geek
From experience in boats and RVs I can say that it's a good idea to keep things simple.

I want to find a guide for the Raspberry Pi & 12v ASICs.

You want to keep everything 12v if you can. Converting to and from A/C induces loss and gets complicated.

The advantage of ASIC is that you can potentially keep adding them until they match what your solar panel is putting out.

I also recommend keeping the whole thing independent on it's own if possible, running either off a leisure battery or another battery setup if you have something cheap or for free.

I don't like batteries; I would much rather store energy as kinetic if possible - like water in a high place. Batteries are always going wrong and they're hard to service. Even forklift batteries get corroded on the fins inside. Sealed batteries are even worse.


Questions:

- 12v USB hub. How to add extra power without using a wallwart?
- Is there a guide for the Raspberry Pi and ASICs? I think if the Pi runs off USB it's unreliable? I've tried the Beaglebone and that's more reliable off USB, running at a lower CPU mhz (300mhz instead of 800mhz I think)
- another way to store 12v energy other than batteries which need replacing?
member
Activity: 65
Merit: 11
I have just added some new hints and pictures to the guide. Smiley
legendary
Activity: 1988
Merit: 1007
I think it's really expensive to power your house from batteries at night.  Most houses get power from the grid at night.

Wouldn't the batteries be charged during the day though, to where at night all you're doing is burning up the saved energy, then replenishing it (while at the same time generating power for things) during the day?

Yes, but you have to buy the batteries and all the charging equipment.

I was under the impression that all of that was required anyways, to account from the over/underusing (so for ex. if you're generating 1 KW/hour and you happen to use 300 W one hour, you'd have 700 stored away so the next hour you could use 1.7KW and still not have issues).
.....
If only it was 100% efficient....., you don't take into account fully charged  or empty batteries.

Also you have to watch these "criminals" and their solar power ratings for the panels., just consider that you need to at least double or triple up, to ensure that you can use the power AND charge the batteries, if you go that way.... even if you feed surplus into the grid its not the storage capacity you think it is..

I spoke to a 'friend' who has a solar panel factory.. and I was quite shocked, by the time he had finished calculating, we reckoned  on nearly 500 panels for even a small sized mining operation.....

Just run the figures for something about 500w..... over a 24 hour period..... (12 kw) based on a 4-5 hours of full sunlight ...

and these 20% conversion rates are bull*** as well (yep if you can get NASA quality then your in with a chance)





So you mean that if you need, say 10 KW a day, estimate 2 KW per hour and therefore you need at least twice that (4 KW/hour) to account for bad efficiency?
sr. member
Activity: 399
Merit: 250
I think it's really expensive to power your house from batteries at night.  Most houses get power from the grid at night.

Wouldn't the batteries be charged during the day though, to where at night all you're doing is burning up the saved energy, then replenishing it (while at the same time generating power for things) during the day?

Yes, but you have to buy the batteries and all the charging equipment.

I was under the impression that all of that was required anyways, to account from the over/underusing (so for ex. if you're generating 1 KW/hour and you happen to use 300 W one hour, you'd have 700 stored away so the next hour you could use 1.7KW and still not have issues).
.....
If only it was 100% efficient....., you don't take into account fully charged  or empty batteries.

Also you have to watch these "criminals" and their solar power ratings for the panels., just consider that you need to at least double or triple up, to ensure that you can use the power AND charge the batteries, if you go that way.... even if you feed surplus into the grid its not the storage capacity you think it is..

I spoke to a 'friend' who has a solar panel factory.. and I was quite shocked, by the time he had finished calculating, we reckoned  on nearly 500 panels for even a small sized mining operation.....

Just run the figures for something about 500w..... over a 24 hour period..... (12 kw) based on a 4-5 hours of full sunlight ...

and these 20% conversion rates are bull*** as well (yep if you can get NASA quality then your in with a chance)


legendary
Activity: 1988
Merit: 1007
I think you definitely want an electrician to do it for you, it might be illegal to do it yourself, and if you mess it up you'll either electrocute yourself or the power company technician if they come to work on the street power.  I'm sure they'll set everything up -- your meter will run backwards when you're selling power, so you'll pay for the net power you use.

Ohh, I didn't realize the meter would go backwards, lol. That's actually pretty cool!

Thanks for the info btw, Smiley.

And, if you end up generating more power than you actually use, you can usually get paid for feeding the grid. You can check with your electric company, but most of them buy the excess power from you.

At 3000 KW/h per month, with a 5kw wind turbine (or or 5x 1kW turbines) you would generate nearly an excess 600KWh each month that you could sell back to the grid (assuming continuous operation of the wind turbine at full output).

The highest wind turbines I could find ran $900 or so (plus shipping) just for the turbine itself, and only generating at a rate of 200W, Sad.
cp1
hero member
Activity: 616
Merit: 500
Stop using branwallets
Allegedly according to the power company we could get a HELOC to pay for a solar array and we'd make enough money to cover the payments.  I'd do it if we were sure we'd be in our home for long enough.
full member
Activity: 133
Merit: 101
Res Et Non Verbum
very nice! Actually I have a project of building a 1kW wind mill to produce my own electricity.

I found your thread very useful, thanks for sharing  Wink
sr. member
Activity: 298
Merit: 250
Play2Live pre-sale starts on January 25th
I think you definitely want an electrician to do it for you, it might be illegal to do it yourself, and if you mess it up you'll either electrocute yourself or the power company technician if they come to work on the street power.  I'm sure they'll set everything up -- your meter will run backwards when you're selling power, so you'll pay for the net power you use.

Ohh, I didn't realize the meter would go backwards, lol. That's actually pretty cool!

Thanks for the info btw, Smiley.

And, if you end up generating more power than you actually use, you can usually get paid for feeding the grid. You can check with your electric company, but most of them buy the excess power from you.

At 3000 KW/h per month, with a 5kw wind turbine (or or 5x 1kW turbines) you would generate nearly an excess 600KWh each month that you could sell back to the grid (assuming continuous operation of the wind turbine at full output).
legendary
Activity: 1988
Merit: 1007
I think you definitely want an electrician to do it for you, it might be illegal to do it yourself, and if you mess it up you'll either electrocute yourself or the power company technician if they come to work on the street power.  I'm sure they'll set everything up -- your meter will run backwards when you're selling power, so you'll pay for the net power you use.

Ohh, I didn't realize the meter would go backwards, lol. That's actually pretty cool!

Thanks for the info btw, Smiley.
cp1
hero member
Activity: 616
Merit: 500
Stop using branwallets
I think you definitely want an electrician to do it for you, it might be illegal to do it yourself, and if you mess it up you'll either electrocute yourself or the power company technician if they come to work on the street power.  I'm sure they'll set everything up -- your meter will run backwards when you're selling power, so you'll pay for the net power you use.
legendary
Activity: 1988
Merit: 1007
Usually you just sell the excess power to the power company and buy it back at night.  Storing it in batteries is easy when you're talking about a small electronic device, but it's expensive to scale up to a whole home.


Ahhh, I see. Thanks for this btw! It's pretty recent that I started doing research and wasn't sure where to really start.

So if we want to do a grid-tied system getting a professional involved is pretty much a necessity for the wiring and such, right?

And do you happen to know what course you'd take to sell power to a power company?
cp1
hero member
Activity: 616
Merit: 500
Stop using branwallets
Usually you just sell the excess power to the power company and buy it back at night.  Storing it in batteries is easy when you're talking about a small electronic device, but it's expensive to scale up to a whole home.
legendary
Activity: 1988
Merit: 1007
I think it's really expensive to power your house from batteries at night.  Most houses get power from the grid at night.

Wouldn't the batteries be charged during the day though, to where at night all you're doing is burning up the saved energy, then replenishing it (while at the same time generating power for things) during the day?

Yes, but you have to buy the batteries and all the charging equipment.

I was under the impression that all of that was required anyways, to account from the over/underusing (so for ex. if you're generating 1 KW/hour and you happen to use 300 W one hour, you'd have 700 stored away so the next hour you could use 1.7KW and still not have issues).
cp1
hero member
Activity: 616
Merit: 500
Stop using branwallets
I think it's really expensive to power your house from batteries at night.  Most houses get power from the grid at night.

Wouldn't the batteries be charged during the day though, to where at night all you're doing is burning up the saved energy, then replenishing it (while at the same time generating power for things) during the day?

Yes, but you have to buy the batteries and all the charging equipment.
legendary
Activity: 1988
Merit: 1007
I think it's really expensive to power your house from batteries at night.  Most houses get power from the grid at night.

Wouldn't the batteries be charged during the day though, to where at night all you're doing is burning up the saved energy, then replenishing it (while at the same time generating power for things) during the day?
cp1
hero member
Activity: 616
Merit: 500
Stop using branwallets
I think it's really expensive to power your house from batteries at night.  Most houses get power from the grid at night.
legendary
Activity: 1988
Merit: 1007
What would change if we don't want an off-grid system?

I.e. use power from panels, and use AC/DC PSU for the shortage/night time usage?

Say i need to run ~120 W miner. Backing up with grid means id use 0 to 120W from grid... How to loadbalance keeping consistent 12V supply?

Well, you wouldn't be using the battery or battery connection cable... instead you'd be using a grid-tie box, and probably be needing to call in a licensed electrician to tie that into an auxiliary panel. You'd also need to get permit from your town to do grid tie, some small towns don't allow it under their code. The DC-USB converter would also go as well... you'd be plugging into normal power outlets.

Depending on your town codes, and power company, you might be selling any excess power generated at a set rate (usually less than the generation rate you pay for receiving generated power), ultimately reducing your bill while giving the power company cheaper power. OR, the electric company might have a pass from the town or state in which they do not have to pay for excess power from your grid tie (some do... which REALLY sucks, because then they're getting anything you generate in excess for free.)

Overall, the initial hardware outlay would be cheaper because of the lack of battery. Your maintenance over time would be less too, also because you wouldn't have to change the battery at end of life (approx 8-10 years.) However, your TOTAL cost over time using panel+battery would be less than using panel+grid tie, and that would be less than grid-only. The break even point between each is usually about 2-3 years. (Longer time to pay off if you live in an area that has a lower solar efficiency, and less amount of hours of sun in a day. Las Vegas gets more hours per day and more direct solar than Chicago, which gets more hours and more direct solar than Finland. Google Photovoltaic Map)

This is extremely helpful! I'm curious, though... have you looked into wind generation as well, and would you recommend that instead?

I live in the middle of nowhere and have been somewhat looking in to going with either wind or solar for powering the entire house (I think grid-tie though in case something happens, so we have electric when it's needed but don't have to pay when we're not overusing it). At the moment we're using about 3,000 KW a month.
cp1
hero member
Activity: 616
Merit: 500
Stop using branwallets
does someone know is it possible to fool a Solar Panel with a LED Light for Plants ?
something like use 90w LED on 130w producing Solar Panel

Yes it should work, you would probably get about 50W of power by using your 90W LED.

more like 25w lol

Oh wow, just read up, apparently 20% is the best efficiency for solar panels right now, I always thought they were higher than that.
legendary
Activity: 868
Merit: 1000
ADT developer
does someone know is it possible to fool a Solar Panel with a LED Light for Plants ?
something like use 90w LED on 130w producing Solar Panel

Yes it should work, you would probably get about 50W of power by using your 90W LED.

more like 25w lol
cp1
hero member
Activity: 616
Merit: 500
Stop using branwallets
does someone know is it possible to fool a Solar Panel with a LED Light for Plants ?
something like use 90w LED on 130w producing Solar Panel

Yes it should work, you would probably get about 50W of power by using your 90W LED.
member
Activity: 65
Merit: 11
What is your breakeven period to recover your capital investment?

One cannot compare my situation to lets say yours if you bought all the stuff right now. That is because my setup has originally not been build to mine bitcoins but to power my computer and several other things like router, TFT and so on.

Also I did not buy a complete new battery. I bought a used one with 100Ah capacity for just € 20 from a friend oft mine. Furthermore if you compare the power consumption for lets say one Raspberry, a powered USB-hub and say four Block Erupters, you end up with something like 20W. My setup has been build for about 100W load at about 3 hours a day.

If you really want to run this for pure profit, you should maybe stay away - at least in man scenarios.
newbie
Activity: 57
Merit: 0
AWESOME!

Shame that I don't get enough sunlight in the UK to make this worth-while.  Cry

legendary
Activity: 1610
Merit: 1000
Crackpot Idealist


Congratulations! You are now mining bitcoins using free sunlight. Consider yourself being a champion.[/li][/list]

hell yes!
legendary
Activity: 2702
Merit: 1468
sr. member
Activity: 376
Merit: 250
interesting, do you think it is possible to use it on balcony as well?
I do not have an access to the roof in building i live in

Yes, you can use this on your balcony.
In fact, I am using my solar-island on my windowsill (behind the windows!) because I dont even have a balcony. I am loosing around 40% efficiency that way. But its still working like a champ. Smiley

ok, thanx, i will try... not maybe for mining as I wait for my devices, but to cut myself from electric slavery Cheesy
member
Activity: 65
Merit: 11
interesting, do you think it is possible to use it on balcony as well?
I do not have an access to the roof in building i live in

Yes, you can use this on your balcony.
In fact, I am using my solar-island on my windowsill (behind the windows!) because I dont even have a balcony. I am loosing around 40% efficiency that way. But its still working like a champ. Smiley
full member
Activity: 196
Merit: 100
Awful lot of money to get "free" electricity, considering how little a Pi uses in the first place.

Agreed, these solar powered mining threads are rather insane, but he did ask a good question (how to do solar UPS el cheapo).

BTW What is it with all these strange HOW-TO-DO-XXX threads recently? Someone opened up a competition or what?
hero member
Activity: 1246
Merit: 501
Awful lot of money to get "free" electricity, considering how little a Pi uses in the first place.
legendary
Activity: 868
Merit: 1000
ADT developer
I'd also be interested if there is a simple solution to make up any deficit from the grid without grid tie.

Something as simple as a couple of blocking diodes should do the trick (ideally high current schottky to reduce the voltage drop). Run a 12V mains PSU (always on, so make sure its an efficient one with low quiescent draw), blocking diode to prevent reverse-feed, and run in parallel with the solar panel (use another blocking diode). Panel will supply power when the sun is up, mains when its down. Make sure you include fuses and size your cables appropriately.

The PRO's would use an auto-switching UPS, but you asked for simple.

PS Probably not such a good idea to use this as a raw 12 volt supply to your kit as a 12 volt solar panel can output up to 18 volts in full sun under no load. You will need some power conditioning to regulate this down (eg the charge controller described in the OP unless you are really into DIY electronics and want to homebrew a regulator).



use a dc dc converter direct from solar pannel with a 18v psu and a couple of diodes

150w dc dc converter ebay 37 gbp
full member
Activity: 196
Merit: 100
Thanks for the advice, I think I may give it a shot.

Just be careful not to overvolt your mining rig (slightly undervolting the 12V supply will probably be OK), you'll want a multimeter to check the voltages, and also the currents from the mains and solar supplies to ensure you've balanced them OK.
sr. member
Activity: 308
Merit: 250
verified ✔
yes on a Balcony would be nice, as this Panels getting more efficient it would be intresting to do some Calculations.


theres also
-Footfall harvesting





does someone know is it possible to fool a Solar Panel with a LED Light for Plants ?
something like use 90w LED on 130w producing Solar Panel
sr. member
Activity: 298
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Play2Live pre-sale starts on January 25th
I'd also be interested if there is a simple solution to make up any deficit from the grid without grid tie.

Something as simple as a couple of blocking diodes should do the trick (ideally high current schottky to reduce the voltage drop). Run a 12V mains PSU (always on, so make sure its an efficient one with low quiescent draw), blocking diode to prevent reverse-feed, and run in parallel with the solar panel (use another blocking diode). Panel will supply power when the sun is up, mains when its down. Make sure you include fuses and size your cables appropriately.

The PRO's would use an auto-switching UPS, but you asked for simple.

PS Probably not such a good idea to use this as a raw 12 volt supply to your kit as a 12 volt solar panel can output up to 18 volts in full sun under no load. You will need some power conditioning to regulate this down (eg the charge controller described in the OP unless you are really into DIY electronics and want to homebrew a regulator).


Thanks for the advice, I think I may give it a shot.
sr. member
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full member
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I'd also be interested if there is a simple solution to make up any deficit from the grid without grid tie.

Something as simple as a couple of blocking diodes should do the trick (ideally high current schottky to reduce the voltage drop). Run a 12V mains PSU (always on, so make sure its an efficient one with low quiescent draw), blocking diode to prevent reverse-feed, and run in parallel with the solar panel (use another blocking diode). Panel will supply power when the sun is up, mains when its down. Make sure you include fuses and size your cables appropriately.

The PRO's would use an auto-switching UPS, but you asked for simple.

PS Probably not such a good idea to use this as a raw 12 volt supply to your kit as a 12 volt solar panel can output up to 18 volts in full sun under no load. You will need some power conditioning to regulate this down (eg the charge controller described in the OP unless you are really into DIY electronics and want to homebrew a regulator).

sr. member
Activity: 298
Merit: 250
Play2Live pre-sale starts on January 25th

Grid tie is getting too complex. The panel generates 12V which my equipment needs. I do not want to convert it to AC and send excess to the grid. All I want is to suck in the deficit from the grid.

Say the panel is 120W . My equipment needs 140W . at peak solar performance id be pulling in 20W from grid, and at night id pull in 140W.
So i get a 140W AC --> DC PSU. Now I got 2 12V sources... What minimalist equipment would I require which would use the solar 12V and make up for deficit from the PSU ?

I'd also be interested if there is a simple solution to make up any deficit from the grid without grid tie.
sr. member
Activity: 322
Merit: 250
Supersonic
What would change if we don't want an off-grid system?

I.e. use power from panels, and use AC/DC PSU for the shortage/night time usage?

Say i need to run ~120 W miner. Backing up with grid means id use 0 to 120W from grid... How to loadbalance keeping consistent 12V supply?

Well, you wouldn't be using the battery or battery connection cable... instead you'd be using a grid-tie box, and probably be needing to call in a licensed electrician to tie that into an auxiliary panel. You'd also need to get permit from your town to do grid tie, some small towns don't allow it under their code. The DC-USB converter would also go as well... you'd be plugging into normal power outlets.

Depending on your town codes, and power company, you might be selling any excess power generated at a set rate (usually less than the generation rate you pay for receiving generated power), ultimately reducing your bill while giving the power company cheaper power. OR, the electric company might have a pass from the town or state in which they do not have to pay for excess power from your grid tie (some do... which REALLY sucks, because then they're getting anything you generate in excess for free.)

Overall, the initial hardware outlay would be cheaper because of the lack of battery. Your maintenance over time would be less too, also because you wouldn't have to change the battery at end of life (approx 8-10 years.) However, your TOTAL cost over time using panel+battery would be less than using panel+grid tie, and that would be less than grid-only. The break even point between each is usually about 2-3 years. (Longer time to pay off if you live in an area that has a lower solar efficiency, and less amount of hours of sun in a day. Las Vegas gets more hours per day and more direct solar than Chicago, which gets more hours and more direct solar than Finland. Google Photovoltaic Map)

Grid tie is getting too complex. The panel generates 12V which my equipment needs. I do not want to convert it to AC and send excess to the grid. All I want is to suck in the deficit from the grid.

Say the panel is 120W . My equipment needs 140W . at peak solar performance id be pulling in 20W from grid, and at night id pull in 140W.
So i get a 140W AC --> DC PSU. Now I got 2 12V sources... What minimalist equipment would I require which would use the solar 12V and make up for deficit from the PSU ?
legendary
Activity: 954
Merit: 1000
What would change if we don't want an off-grid system?

I.e. use power from panels, and use AC/DC PSU for the shortage/night time usage?

Say i need to run ~120 W miner. Backing up with grid means id use 0 to 120W from grid... How to loadbalance keeping consistent 12V supply?

Well, you wouldn't be using the battery or battery connection cable... instead you'd be using a grid-tie box, and probably be needing to call in a licensed electrician to tie that into an auxiliary panel. You'd also need to get permit from your town to do grid tie, some small towns don't allow it under their code. The DC-USB converter would also go as well... you'd be plugging into normal power outlets.

Depending on your town codes, and power company, you might be selling any excess power generated at a set rate (usually less than the generation rate you pay for receiving generated power), ultimately reducing your bill while giving the power company cheaper power. OR, the electric company might have a pass from the town or state in which they do not have to pay for excess power from your grid tie (some do... which REALLY sucks, because then they're getting anything you generate in excess for free.)

Overall, the initial hardware outlay would be cheaper because of the lack of battery. Your maintenance over time would be less too, also because you wouldn't have to change the battery at end of life (approx 8-10 years.) However, your TOTAL cost over time using panel+battery would be less than using panel+grid tie, and that would be less than grid-only. The break even point between each is usually about 2-3 years. (Longer time to pay off if you live in an area that has a lower solar efficiency, and less amount of hours of sun in a day. Las Vegas gets more hours per day and more direct solar than Chicago, which gets more hours and more direct solar than Finland. Google Photovoltaic Map)
sr. member
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verified ✔
Dscheisse Bernd, das ist für mich der Elektrobitcoiner
sr. member
Activity: 322
Merit: 250
Supersonic
What would change if we don't want an off-grid system?

I.e. use power from panels, and use AC/DC PSU for the shortage/night time usage?

Say i need to run ~120 W miner. Backing up with grid means id use 0 to 120W from grid... How to loadbalance keeping consistent 12V supply?
member
Activity: 65
Merit: 11
Hi to everyone. Smiley

In this post I will share my knowledge about building a solar power island like the one I build myself to power my computer and router. Of course everything you are about to learn from this guide can be used to set up a raspberry-pi-driven mining-plattform thats brings mining for essentially free (of course: assuming you got enough sunlight.)

I. Hardware


II. Setup

  • Step 1: Make sure you get the most efficiency out of your solar panel.

    Use the following chart to find out the best setup:
    "Dachausrichtung" means roof orientation.
    "Dachneigung" means roof pitch.



  • Step 2: Connect solar panels, solar charge controller, battery and USB-Power-Output

    2.1: Always take care of correct polarity.
    2.2: Connect the solar panels positive pole with the controllers positive solar-panel-jack and then connect the negatives.
    2.3: Connect the batteries positive pole with the controllers positive battery-jack and then connect the negatives.
    2.4: Connect the Autek-12V-to-5V/3A-USB-Converters positive pole with the controllers positive load-output-jack and then connect the negatives.

  • Step 3: Connect your Raspberry Pi along with your ZTEX/Cairnsmore/whatever-you-may-want-to-use

    Congratulations! You are now mining bitcoins using free sunlight. Consider yourself being a champion.

III. Useful links and tools


IV. Comments


  • One can of course also interconnect multiple batteries in parallel to increase the capacity. Is possible, for example, the use of used truck or particularly hot: Forklift batteries such as this one.
  • In principle both, direct current and alternating current devices can be operated with such an investment. However, if you want to run AC appliances, this requires an inverter. These are available in cheap and expensive. Attention: The inverters output side provides either true sine wave or only a rectangle "wave". Rectangle wave voltage can permanently damage electronic circuit boards. The difference between rectangle wave and sine wave voltage is as follows:



V. A closer look at my setup

Charge Controller
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