Is mining crypto with rooftop solar worth it?

How does the energy maths work?

Mining is a race that runs on electricity. A machine uses power around the clock, and its earnings depend on things you do not control: the price of the digital asset, how many other miners compete, and rules that change the reward over time. Your solar array, by contrast, has a known output that depends on weather and season.

Start with the cost side. If your panels make a kilowatt-hour that you could otherwise export for a credit or use to avoid buying one, that kilowatt-hour has a value. Mining only makes sense if the machine earns more per kilowatt-hour than that alternative, after the hardware cost. Because earnings can fall as competition rises, that is a bet, and this guide gives no advice about whether to make it.

Why does solar not suit a machine that never sleeps?

A mining rig wants steady power. Rooftop solar in Canada produces strongly in summer, weakly in a dark December and not at all at night. Panels on a home also normally feed the house first, with surplus exported, so running a rig means either leaning on the grid after dark or adding a battery. Batteries add cost and wear; see solar batteries in Canada.

The seasonal swing is large in Canada. The shape of the year is explained in do solar panels work in winter in Canada. A system sized around a household bill is rarely the right size for a machine running day and night.

What about hardware that becomes obsolete?

Mining hardware tends to lose competitiveness quickly as newer machines arrive. A solar panel is the opposite: many are warrantied for 25 years or more, as covered in how long solar panels last. Pairing a long-lived asset with a short-lived one means the panels may outlast several generations of rigs. Machines also make noise and heat, which is worth remembering if the rig will sit in a garage or basement.

Is there a sensible worked example?

Take an invented household, for illustration only. Suppose the array makes about 6,000 kWh a year and your utility credits exports at a rate we will call X per kWh. Mining with that power forgoes 6,000 times X. Whether mining beats it depends on the machine's purchase price, its power draw, what you can sell the output for after fees and taxes, and how long the hardware stays useful. Every one of those inputs is uncertain, and income from mining may be taxable. Speak to an accountant. A machine bought for this purpose is also a cost that arrives before any earnings, while panels at least reduce a bill from the first sunny day. The project at Drake Landing Solar Community shows what steady, planned use of captured sunlight looks like when it is designed around a real need: heat for 52 homes, with storage sized to match.

Then compare it with a plain use. The household could instead cut its bill, as examined in the solar payback period guide. That payback rests on known rates, not on a volatile market.

What do the rules say?

Connecting a solar system to the grid is governed by provincial and utility rules, and those rules usually assume the system serves your own household load. Large new loads or commercial activity may have different electrical, zoning and tax treatment. Check your provincial regulator and your utility before changing how your system is used. This guide does not claim any specific rule. If you are unsure whether your plans count as normal household use, ask in writing and keep the reply. Insurers may also want to know about a high-power load running in a home, so it is worth asking them too.

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