Solar Crypto Mining — How I Run ASIC Miners on Solar Power in Texas

Why I Mine with Solar

In 2013 I read an article about Bitcoin and couldn’t believe it. Buy a machine, it solves a math problem, and it earns money. I’m a Marine veteran with no college degree, and I’ve earned every dollar with my hands and my head since I started as a painter’s helper in 1986. Printing money had been illegal my whole life — this felt like the legal version.

It wasn’t that easy. I bought a small ASIC miner, and when BTC dropped a couple years later, I walked away. Forgot my wallet password. Lost 0.75 BTC. Expensive lesson in both patience and password management.

Two strokes, a heart attack and bypass surgery later, the curiosity is still there — and today mining is a hobby that earns money. When I looked at the math on solar-powered mining in Texas, the numbers made too much sense to ignore.

— Shawn, your crypto hobbyist

I bought an Antminer S19 Pro with a Loki Kit for $600, got solar panels installed in June 2025, and wired everything myself. No electrician. Today I run multiple miners in my garage pulling up to about 12–13 kW during daylight on solar and running all of them at night on free electricity.

My Solar Setup

Here’s exactly what I’m running. This isn’t a hypothetical build — this is bolted to my roof right now in North Texas.

The system is grid-tied with a Tesla Powerwall 3 for battery backup. The panels produce power during the day that runs my miners and my house. Excess goes back to the grid through my electricity provider’s solar buyback program in Texas. The Powerwall gives me 13.5 kWh of storage and backup during outages.

The Power Strategy — Solar Days, Free Nights

This is where solar mining in Texas gets interesting. I’m on my electricity provider’s free nights plan. Electricity is free from 9 PM to 9 AM. During the day, the grid rate is $0.34/kWh — which would destroy mining profitability if I was paying it.

Here’s how I run it:

Daytime (9 AM – 9 PM): Solar panels produce power. I run miners pulling up to about 12–13 kW directly off solar production. The Powerwall handles spikes and my house load. Any excess solar gets exported to the grid for buyback credits.

Nighttime (9 PM – 9 AM): Free electricity kicks in. I run all miners at full power. This is 12 hours of completely free mining every single night. No solar needed, no battery drain, just free grid power.

The result: my effective electricity cost for mining is close to zero. During the day, solar covers it. At night, my electricity provider’s free nights plan covers it. That changes the entire profitability equation for ASIC mining.

My Mining Rigs

Everything runs in my garage. The S19-series machines and the KS5 Pros run on 240V circuits I wired myself; the Z9 Minis, the Z11, and the lottery miner run on 120V.

I’m mining BTC, KAS, and ZEC across these machines. Every machine runs at night on free power; during solar hours I cap the fleet’s combined draw at about 12–13 kW. With free power, I don’t need the newest, most efficient hardware — I just need machines that run reliably.

A miss I’ll own: the two KS5 Pros were a bet on Kaspa that hasn’t paid off so far. A good reminder to run the numbers in the calculator before you buy.

When a Hashboard Dies

My S19 Pro has one bad hashboard, so it’s down for repair — but a miner with a dead board isn’t scrap. Its good boards still have value two ways:

• Spare rig: run it underclocked on the remaining boards when I need extra hashrate or a backup machine.
• Two 120V units: split the good boards into two single-board miners that run on regular household outlets, each in my own 3D-printed case (coming soon). A single-board build needs a Loki Kit or the LuxOS PSU Bypass plus a 120V-compatible power supply.

My Mining Timeline

What It All Cost

Total investment across everything — solar system, Tesla Powerwall, all miners, electrical supplies, wiring — roughly $35,000. But the solar system has dual purpose: it powers my house and my miners. The 30% federal tax credit brought the solar portion down significantly.

The solar system would have made sense even without mining — it cuts my electric bill dramatically in Texas where summer rates are brutal. The mining is bonus income on top of that. Use the mining calculator to run your own numbers.

Should You Mine with Solar?

It depends on your situation. Here’s what made it work for me:

Texas electricity market: Deregulated power means you can shop for plans with free nights or low solar buyback rates. Not every state has this. If you’re paying a flat $0.12/kWh with no time-of-use options, the math is different.

Roof space and sun: I have a large roof with good southern exposure in North Texas. We get plenty of sun. If you’re in the Pacific Northwest with heavy cloud cover, your production numbers will be lower.

Existing solar: If you already have solar panels, adding miners is almost a no-brainer. You’re already producing power — put it to work. If you’re installing solar from scratch specifically for mining, run the numbers carefully because the solar payback period is 7–10 years regardless.

DIY ability: I wired my own 240V circuits. That saved thousands in electrician costs. If you’re not comfortable with electrical work, factor that labor cost into your budget.

Patience: This isn’t a get-rich-quick setup. For me it’s a hobby that earns money. Difficulty rises, machines wear out, and crypto prices swing both ways, so I only put in money I can afford to let ride through the ups and downs.

Getting Started

If you’re ready to explore solar mining, here’s where to start on this site:

🧮 Mining Calculator — Plug in your miner, power cost, and solar hours to see daily profits.

🔌 Electrical Setup Guide — Everything you need to know about wiring 240V circuits for ASIC miners at home.

💰 ASIC Miner Catalog — Browse miners by algorithm, voltage, and power draw.

⚙️ Firmware Guide — Compare Braiins OS+, LuxOS, VNish, and 120V options (Loki Kit or PSU Bypass) for your miners.

🏊 Mining Pools — Find the right pool for your coin and payout preference.

📡 Remote Management — Monitor and control your rigs from anywhere.