Miner

Hey everyone So a buddy of mine in solar energy is willing to share some of his KW output for Bitcoin mining. I'm just getting into this whole mining thing and I'm trying to figure out if it's something I should go after. What kind of mining gear would work best with a solar setup? And how many KW do I actually need to make this profitable?

First question that comes to mind, isn't how many KW you need to make it profitable. With free energy you're already more or less profitable even with a lower hash rate. The question is how many KW of free energy can it reliably supply and does it have battery backup. If you're exclusively using solar to power it, expect it to black-out as the sun doesn't always shine. Once you have a baseline for the amount of power available then you could use one of the many profitability calculators and work out which miner's are likely to return the highest profitability. Almost certainly that'll be one of the newer Bitmain Antminer S21 series, depending on hash rate and type they're anywhere from around 3500-5500W each at hash rates of 200T-470T though getting one is like finding chickens teeth. So you may have to think lower performance and older models, but realistically it hinges on how much power is continuously available. I run a small rig 6TH/s from solar. Its on a timer and monitor system so it only runs when there's enough spare energy from the panels to meet the house needs and the extra for the mining rig. But it doesnt run 24/7

kW and KWh are two different concepts, you are going to need to ask your friend how much of both he would be able to spare, if the setup is off-grid with no backup batteries then it would be useless regadless of how much much KW there is, the aspect of running your miner for 3-5 hours a day is bad, even if the power is free, the ROI is going to be terrible for a gear that runs for 20% of the time or less. So, without all this information, no advice is worth a thing.

to give an idea a 1 board bitmain t21  can do 48th at around 1000 watts an hour it earns .05 x 48 =2.4 a day so if you get the power for free it will earn maybe 2.4x365=876 876 in a year. It will cost about 1,000 dollars so you need it to run 14 months on free power without breaking. here is a video of it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elFBWMKimmM

I'd like to add that this is a very risky investment. You need to guarantee that your friend will supply you with electricity for 15-18 months. If your friend changes their mind or something breaks down, your equipment won't mine. Who will pay for the losses?

Yeah you are right FP91G, like I always say having constant power supply is very important in mining so just like you said he needs to be sure his friend will supply him with electricity for months and it should also be constant power supply. Concerning his friend changing his mind what if he tells his friend that they should go into a written agreement, I believe with a written agreement his friend won't just change his mind, and I believe his friend is not doing all this for free he will also want some share from what has been mined out. It is a good thing the OP decided to bring this here and I believe with all the reply he has gotten he will know the next thing to do and I believe he has already taken action or decision because this thread was posted since April it's been 6 months now.

I don't know how things are in your country with such contracts, but in my country, in order to supply electricity to another person, you need a license.

I have two valid points to add 1. I might sound somehow but try to understand, I don't believe in free things, have you ask your friend what he is getting in return? Do you trust him to give up some power for you? Mining takes a long period of time, is he ready to always be at your service electricity wise? I asked this question because I am a living example myself, I have gone out to bought a miner after I lost my father, it was my first step at the time, I clicked with a friend whom I thought got my back, he disappoint so badly that I had to quit and go back home, just after two weeks or three that I started mining she sarted showing the real version of herself. Her complains? The miners noise, the miner heats and so on. So please let your friend knows how miners work first, tell him it makes annoying noises and it generate heats. 2. What will happen after the sun goes down? The fun is free energy, that's acceptable but no one will let you run asic on their battery backup, that thing degrade batteries faster than anything, I am just bringing your sixth sense to life, I want you to think about it very well before making this decision. GoodLuck.

You should be very careful,so you will not be duped because I have come encounter this kind of offer ,giving you to mine for him could be dangerous but if is not what I think you are lucky but just be very careful,many people come with smile look but inside them they are evil Some one gave me his key phrase to trade for him only to check at a long wrong that what he gave me is to scam me ,this is my experience so be careful.