You are right about the battery backup. They are very expensive and they are designed to run a house that is on solar at night or during a power outage. They supply enough power for refrigerators, lights, and a few other low watt items. They’ll need recharging soon running a couple of S19s. Check with your state before you decide which panels and inverter to buy. In my state WA, since I purchased my panels and rest of system from WA state manufacturers I get a check from the state every year for 8 years based on my production. And since I’m on the grid my county power company pays me if I don’t use all the power produced. This wouldn’t work if you want to be off the grid.
Congrats and thanks for letting us watch your journey through your vlogs on youtube.
When you mentioned 12 cents per KWH, I was thinking you could get a LLC business license for your miners and that will get you industrial/commercial pricing for electricity for the garage/barn you will store the miners. That should only be 4-5 cents per KWH. just a thought you can take into consideration…
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Colin;
You are absolutely correct on ALL counts. However, I had to RMA 8 out of 14 Enphase microinverters, before I sold my house in June 2018. And, just two weeks ago, I started getting notices from the Enphase Envoy about additional inverter failures. I guess that the new owner had finally reconnected it to the internet. So, I contacted him, and gave him the login, to “take ownership”.
On a separate/unrelated note, when I saw all the trees on his 50-acres, I sent Vosk a PM with a link to a video by Engineer775, from 5 or 6 years ago. He had a tool called Pathfinder. It will help with pointing the array(s) towards SOLAR South, and then indicate which trees need to get cut down.
Curtis
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When I lived in Wyoming, Black Hills Energy bought at WHOLESALE, and sold at RETAIL. 
cbalbrecht,
Wow, you had to RMA 8 out of 14 Enphase microinverters. How long did you have them before you started running into issues?
They were first installed in 2010. But, something didn’t “seem” right. So, I installed the Envoy in 2011, and one by one, they all started going bad. Fortunately I have a college Degree in Electricity and Electronics. That gave me the know how to perform the replacements myself. But, getting the RMA was the hard part. I had to be a thorn in Enphase’s rear end, and force them to classified me as an installer. Why? Because their policy is to not take calls from end users. From there, I was able to get the RMA’s and replace them. If you go to maps.google.com and copy/paste these GPS coordinates in (41.144796, -104.836695), you will see the 14 panels. I haven’t used microinverters since. https://youtu.be/AmMXL_8XcYs
I wonder if the output of your panels was too much for the microinverters to handle. What are you using now, DC Power Optimizers?
If memory serves, the panels were 230W REC brand, and well within the specs of the microinverters. But, that was so long ago, that I can’t remember the model numbers. So, I can’t show you here, in this thread.
Today? When I sold my house in Wyoming (15JUN18), I moved to the Philippines. I’m running a SUN-G 5kW (SUN-5KW-G) STRING inverter, with a mix of Trina 360W (TSM-360DD14A (II)) and JA SOLAR 405W (JAM72S10-405/MR) panels, 6,660W total.
if you can document income, you can finance this entire project including land/ home construction and solar with no down payment or a very little down payment depending on a few different variables. also any cost you do have to put out of pocket like initial engineering permits etc…you get reimbursed at closing/initial funding. I have done many of these and i too am now looking for my own land to do the same. if you feel that might be an option for you guys , just let me know any way i can help.
the entire process from start to finish would be around 6months possibly less. meaning if you were to start first of the year you would be moving in around may or june.
On the solar, another option i personally just started investigating as sort of offshoot to tesla roof , is w/ roof upgrade to metal vs asphalt. from there an easy diy solar install would be installing flexible solar strips in between the metal roofing seams (https://www.amazon.com/Uni-Solar-PVL-136-PowerBond-216-Inch-15-5-Inch/dp/B002MWFFWM/)
obviously some more research would be needed to compare solar output to see if its worth it. but it definitely would be much easier install bc the flexible panels are peel and stick and hurricane wind rated. so you just put them on run connectors to the roof ridge line, then make all the connections , run main feeds on ridgeline to panel; and cover it all with the ridge cap.
there is also a company in astonia https://roofit.solar/ that fabricates all in one system but my guess is it wouldnt be worth having them shipped here, heres a you tube(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ycs4Rtd2Zpo)
the hydro is def something i’m interested in too, first thing that popped into my mind was an episode of homestead rescue where they made a water wheel that supplied an entire house and general store. building a dam has some promising potential too, especially valley dam, given the property has the characteristics.
again if i can help out in anyway let me know. and keep us posted on the progress
Hi Vosk, I’m a veteran and also live in Virginia in the Fort Lee/Petersburg area.
I love solar energy and physics/math, and have gotten into ₿ and crypto this past summer.
My house in Arizona has an enphase solar system, and I was pricing out a system here in Virginia and the best prices are with CO-OPs. I had a disreputable business in VA try to sell me a 21 panel solar system at $4.63 per watt which is crazy high.
I never considered a DYI job, but I find it compelling and interesting. I can’t offer much other than elbow grease and some personal insight, but if you need some free help, I’m available in December. I’d be glad to trade my labor in exchange for experience and knowledge.
Curtis,
I have an enphase system as well. Enphase has been a pain as far as getting my warranty replacements microinverters in a timely manner. Plus I still have to pay my local enphase affiliate $75 labor.
I recently had a micro inverter replaced, and the exact replacement is underperforming. It’s a pain because my local company said, it would still cost me $75 labor, and I had a new one replaced a month prior.
Microinverters allow for better expandability, but they have their headaches as well.
-mike
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a fun solar project Vosk. Excited to see your journey.
I have 1200 days of data from my residential mining farm here is Australia.
A quick summary for those that are interested.
- 30gpu’s at 4200watts
- Fronius Primo 5.0 AUS Inverter with full data meter tracking, Import/Export.
https://www.fronius.com/en-au/australia/photovoltaics/products/all-products/inverters/fronius-primo/fronius-primo-5-0-1-aus - Residential limited max inverter size of 5.0kw allowed.
- 6.6 kw of panels, (22 panels at 300 watts) max input panel size inverter will handle is 7.2kw (24 @ 300w).
- Inverter will only generate output peak of 5.0kw.
- 24% over provisioning panels(5.0/6.6) widens the solar generated curve & cap limits the top.
- Goal was to to use 100% of my solar and not export any to the grid & have minimal grid import. Its near impossible with rigs crashing, change of day schedule to the season/weather. I am sitting around 85% and very happy with that.
have a look at the links bellow for some detailed stats. the Fronius web site has awesome data tracking and graphs. Excellent inverter.
Solar output productivity in Southern hemisphere Western Australia.
- Hot days impact power generate power. 21st December 2019 hot day 6.6kw of panels were not able to generate peak of 5kw)
- Summer 42 units generated / Winter solstice 24 units generated.
- considerations of panels on tilt array to track sun to push the bell curve out, Cost verse payoff.
Summer Solstice 42kw units generated Hot and very long day
Winter Solstice 24kw units generated short day sun drops off very fast.
A good Summers day flat top 5.0kw
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50kw hydro turbine generator $2.5k 50kw Micro Francis Hydro Turbine Generator - Buy Micro Turbine Generator,Micro Hydro Turbine Generator,50kw Hydro Turbine Generator Product on Alibaba.com of course you would still need an inverter and the proper waterflow but in the right location this wouldnt be expensive diy and they make smaller turbines too…sure could run alotta f’n mines on 50kw 24/7/365 hahaha
I have 40 acres in the Arizona desert. I currently have 86 active panels and 6 more in the process of being installed. I am grid tied with netmetering. I produce about 130kWhs this time of year on a clear day. In addition to my household needs I run 22 1070 GPUs mining ETH. I may expand.
My advice to those thinking about installing solar, and especially those considering powering a mining operation of modest size is the selection of location. Abundant sunlight is critical but every bit as important is the solar power policy of your utility company. Different jurisdictions have different policies as to how they pay you for the excess power you return to the grid. I am fortunate to live in an area where we have netmetering. Under my arrangement with my utility company, I get credit for each kWh I return to the grid during the day. At night when I am drawing from the grid, I get a 1 for 1 credit for my daytime over production. This is critical. Most places do not do this anymore. Most places pay you wholesale for your daytime overproduction then charge you retail for your night time usage. If you can find a location with 1 for 1 netmetering then the grid is your battery and there is no need to waste money on your own batteries.
Another thought to share, some rural locations allow the homeowner to do their own installation after taking some classes on electrical codes. No contractor or electrician needed.
I use Enphase microinverters. They are incredibly easy to install as their output is 240v and connects directly to the 2 polarities of any 240v subpanel. No neutral and no ground. I’ve even put an electrical connector on the end of a bank of panels and connected it into my shop 240v welder outlet. It feeds back into the system thru an outlet.
Hope these thoughts are of use to someone.
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As my post above I also explaing, am also using Enphase micro inverters. I agree they are much more user friendly since you are only dealing with 240VAC. As others have said though placing microinverters under panels for a rooftop install might not be ideal. However Enphase will update your inverters, over the network, if you have any issues, so the possibilility of having one go bad (they have 10 year warranty) is low. All of my panels are easy access since they are part of a large porch.
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As an addition for your new house have you thought about having a solar tiled roof on your house? The Tesla v3 solar tiles look promising. Considering this with the power bank for the house.
Tesla charges about 65k for the system… not worth it
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First great channel dude awesome info 
.
I have 2 solar installs one installed by pros and one by me which includes a turbine. From trying a few different install options I would definitely recommend micro inverters with the right panels. Your site looks like you will get shading so if so they will pay for themselves in no time. Plus with trees you get birds and with that you get dirty panels. One dirty panel without micro inverters effects all in the series so increases maintenance.
Also if you are truly going off grid then battery’s are a must (for me anyway) you can make your own it isn’t that hard 
that way cost would be way lower and you can expand as needed. I have a few S17e’s that run between 70/87% of the time from solar or battery and it has kept them profitable and will for some time. Can share more info on stuff I look at and gave looked at if it’s any help.
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Also get access to sun stimulation software so you can map out your setup with tress etc. And see the sun rise and set in all seasons which will help production estimates. Architects use um most of the time but shouldn’t be too hard to find.
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