SolarBit was one of the more ambitious ideas to come out of the open-source mining scene: a self-contained, sun-tracking enclosure that would run a Bitaxe Gamma entirely off-grid, “perpetually,” with no wall outlet involved. It was announced as a collaboration between community builders, with D-Central named on the distribution side. The concept captured something real — the dream of a miner that hashes on free sunlight and answers to no power company. So let’s do two things honestly here: explain what the SolarBit concept actually was, and then get practical about how you build a solar-powered Bitaxe setup today, with hardware that’s real and on the shelf.
Last updated: May 2026.
What SolarBit was — the concept
The SolarBit design centered on three ideas worth understanding even if you never see the finished product:
- An autonomous solar-tracking enclosure. Rather than a fixed panel, SolarBit’s panels would pivot to follow the sun east-to-west through the day, then reset overnight. Tracking meaningfully increases daily energy capture versus a fixed panel — that part of the concept is sound engineering.
- A Bitaxe Gamma as the mining core. The choice made sense. The Bitaxe Gamma draws only about 15 watts and produces roughly 1.2 TH/s using the BM1370 chip. A 15-watt load is small enough that a modest panel and battery can realistically carry it.
- Environmental hardening. Weather sensors, a temperature cutout, a “rain mode” to shield the board — the kind of detail an outdoor, unattended device genuinely needs.
It’s important to be straight with you: SolarBit was announced as a future product, and as of this update there is no SolarBit product page or shipping unit in D-Central’s catalog. Treat it as a concept that demonstrated an idea, not a thing you can buy from us right now. What you can do — and what the rest of this guide covers — is build the same outcome yourself with proven parts. The concept’s real lesson is this: because a Bitaxe sips power, solar-powered solo mining is not exotic. It’s an afternoon project.
Why a Bitaxe is the right miner for solar — and an Antminer usually isn’t
The entire reason solar Bitaxe mining works is the power budget. Compare the load you’re trying to cover:
| Miner | Power draw | Hashrate | Solar realism |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bitaxe Gamma | ~15 W | ~1.2 TH/s | Easy — a single small panel and battery covers it. |
| Bitaxe Ultra | ~15 W | ~500 GH/s | Easy — same as above. |
| Bitaxe GT | ~35-43 W | ~2.15 TH/s | Doable — needs a modestly larger panel and battery bank than a single-chip board. |
| Antminer S19 | ~3,250 W | 95 TH/s | Hard — needs a serious dedicated solar array; this is a different project entirely. |
A 15-watt load is roughly what a phone charger pulls. You can carry that on a 50–100 W panel with a small battery for cloudy stretches and overnight. A 3,250-watt Antminer is a building-scale solar project. Both are valid — they’re just not the same difficulty class. This guide is about the easy one. For the building-scale version, D-Central’s solar Bitcoin mining in Canada guide covers off-grid and grid-tied arrays for full ASICs.
Building a solar-powered Bitaxe setup that actually works
Here’s the practical version of the SolarBit idea — parts you can buy and assemble now.
- The miner. A Bitaxe — the Gamma if you want the most hashrate per watt. One important spec from D-Central’s database: single-board Bitaxe units are powered by a 5 V barrel jack, not USB-C (USB-C on a Bitaxe is for firmware only). That 5 V input shapes your whole power chain.
- The solar panel. For a single ~15 W Bitaxe, a 50–100 W panel gives you comfortable headroom for charging a battery while running the miner. Oversize it — clouds happen.
- A charge controller. An MPPT charge controller sits between panel and battery, getting the most usable power out of the panel and protecting the battery. Don’t skip this — connecting a panel straight to a battery is how you cook the battery.
- A battery. This is the “perpetual” part. The battery runs the miner overnight and through cloudy stretches. A modest LiFePO4 battery is plenty for a 15 W load and tolerates daily cycling well.
- A 5 V converter. A DC-DC buck converter steps your battery voltage (typically 12 V) down to the clean 5 V the Bitaxe barrel jack wants. Match the connector and polarity carefully.
- Weather protection. If the miner lives outdoors, it needs a ventilated, water-resistant enclosure — and it still needs airflow, because even 15 W of heat in a sealed box in direct sun adds up. This is the part of the SolarBit concept worth copying most directly.
Sizing rule of thumb: a Bitaxe running 24/7 at ~15 W consumes roughly 360 watt-hours a day. Your panel needs to generate that plus enough to refill the battery from its overnight discharge, and your battery needs enough capacity to cover your worst realistic run of bad-weather days. Build margin in. An off-grid setup with no margin isn’t off-grid — it’s a miner that turns off.
What you’re really buying with solar Bitaxe mining
Be clear-eyed about the economics. A single Bitaxe’s solo-mining odds are a long-shot lottery regardless of how it’s powered — running it on sunlight doesn’t change the probability math (see the solo mining calculator). And the panel, controller, and battery cost more upfront than the 360 Wh/day of grid power they replace.
So what’s the actual return? Three things, and they’re not financial:
- Sovereignty. A solar Bitaxe answers to no utility, no meter, and no grid operator. It hashes whether or not the power company has an opinion about it. That’s the cypherpunk core of the idea — and it’s the same reason D-Central’s whole mission is decentralizing every layer of mining.
- Decentralization. Every Bitaxe pointed at a solo pool — solar or not — is hashrate the big pools don’t control. Off-grid units are especially resilient: they’re hard to choke because there’s nothing central to choke.
- It’s a genuinely fun build. A self-contained, sun-powered Bitcoin miner is one of the most satisfying weekend projects in this hobby. That counts.
If you want the financial case for solar in mining, it lives at the larger scale — covering the 3,000-watt load of a full ASIC, where displaced grid power actually moves the ROI needle. That’s the Canada solar mining guide’s territory. The Bitaxe version is about freedom and fun, and it’s honest to say so.
Frequently asked questions
Can I buy a SolarBit from D-Central?
No — SolarBit was an announced concept, and there’s no SolarBit product in D-Central’s catalog as of this update. But you can buy every part needed to build an equivalent solar-powered Bitaxe setup yourself, starting with the Bitaxe itself. The build is straightforward.
How big a solar panel do I need to run a Bitaxe?
For a single ~15 W Bitaxe running 24/7, a 50–100 W panel paired with an MPPT charge controller and a small LiFePO4 battery is a comfortable setup with room for cloudy days. Oversize the panel and battery rather than running them at their limit.
Can I run an Antminer on solar instead?
Yes, but it’s a fundamentally bigger project — an Antminer S19 draws around 3,250 W, so you’re talking about a substantial dedicated array and battery bank, not a tabletop kit. The solar Bitcoin mining in Canada guide covers that scale.
Does solar power improve my solo mining odds?
No. Your odds of finding a block depend only on your hashrate versus the network — the power source is irrelevant to the math. What solar changes is your operating cost and your independence from the grid, not your probability. Model the odds in the solo mining calculator.
Build the sun-powered miner
SolarBit’s vision — a miner that runs on sunlight and nothing else — is completely achievable today; it just takes a parts list instead of a pre-order. Start with a Bitaxe from D-Central, work through the Bitaxe Buying Guide to pick your model, and read the solar Bitcoin mining guide for the energy side. For more on the open-source scene SolarBit grew out of, see the Bitaxe community and ecosystem roundup. The grid is optional.
