Is it viable to mine with solar power using older (obtainable) asics?

[Red Squirrel]

I just had this crazy idea, what if you setup a ~500w array and a ~300w miner and just have it setup to turn on when there is sun, then turn off shortly after (to reduce the need for too big of a battery). So say you spend $1,500 on the whole setup would that pay for itself in a reasonable amount of time, or not at all? I'm thinking it would be something built into a small enough insulated box that you just stick in your yard and would connect to your wifi. Say something no bigger than a car.

What about going larger scale, say a 5kw array on the house and like 2-3kw of mining equipment inside? (free heat, too) Basically, it would be a capital cost with zero ongoing cost to run it. So question is if it would pay for itself in an actual reasonable time or not. Or produce enough bitcoin that you can use for online services. Ex: pay for a vpn provider.

I imagine it's not viable though, or it would have been done already. Just thought I'd throw this idea out here for discussion sake. Maybe I'm just insane. I will admit I'm kind of out of touch with the Bitcoin scene, have not followed it all that much.

 

[W.Feather]

No.

 

[musky]

You would be better off selling any power you generated back to the electric company, or use it to offset your electric bill. Mining is either worth it or it is not based on mining efficiency, difficulty, and power costs. Where the power actually comes from is irrelevant.

 

[buttons]

you dont make squat selling power back to the electric company. Mining bitcoin is a waste, anything "older" will not mine enough to make it worth the hassle. you would be better off mining ethereum with a mini itx computer and a single RX480 or mine LBRY with a geforce 1070 or something. that would be a 300 watt system and have more uses beyond "mining" if you change your mind.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Kinda what I figured, was just something that crossed my mind, as it would be practically free to run. And yeah I looked into selling back, from what I understand they cap it to whatever your usage is, then you still have to pay delivery and all the other crap - which is often more money than what your usage is. I think if I go solar I would just keep the power for myself and power my existing stuff. Never heard of ethereum though I'll have to check it out.