Monetize your watts
Your roof is a power plant. Treat it like one.
Eight ways to turn surplus kWh into income. Each watt is sold once — self-use first, then the next-best buyer takes what's left.
Monetize stack at a glance
- Total / yr (full stack)
- $3,212
- All 8 paths active
- Paths
- 8
- Pick any subset
- Payback range
- 2.8–12y
- Years to break even
- Core rule
- One kWh, sold once
- Never double-counted
Eight ways to monetize a watt
Self-use first, then by best € / kWh
- Risk: LowPayback: 4.2 yearsPer year: $612
Battery arbitrage
Charge cheap, discharge peak.
- Risk: MediumPayback: 2.8 yearsPer year: $720
BTC mining
Run a low-power ASIC on surplus.
- Risk: LowPayback: 6.1 yearsPer year: $240
Thermal storage
Surplus → hot-water tank.
- Risk: MediumPayback: 8.5 yearsPer year: $380
V2H / V2G
Discharge the EV during peak.
- Risk: LowPayback: 12.0 yearsPer year: $340
Feed-in tariff
Sell residual to the grid.
- Risk: MediumPayback: 5.8 yearsPer year: $280
EV peer charging
Sell to a neighbour's EV.
- Risk: HighPayback: 3.2 yearsPer year: $460
DePIN compute
Helium, Storj, Akash — earn tokens.
- Risk: LowPayback: 9.4 yearsPer year: $180
Community share
Share surplus with neighbours.
Want exact numbers for your roof? Open the calculator →
Where the power and the money go
Solar → inverter → buyer → € back
How it works
Step 1
Generate
Your solar array produces kWh during the day. Self-consumption takes priority — what you use at home is the most valuable kWh.
Step 2
Route surplus
What you don't use is routed by the inverter / energy manager to the next-best paying channel: battery arbitrage, mining, V2H, thermal, feed-in, etc.
Step 3
Earn € back
Each channel returns € to the household. Stacking 3 – 5 channels typically delivers 4–6× the income of feed-in-only.
Frequently asked
Does each kWh get sold twice across these channels?
No. Each kWh is routed to exactly one buyer in sequence — self-consumption first, then the next-best paying channel (battery arbitrage, BTC mining, V2H, thermal storage, NEM credit, etc.). The rule is one kWh, sold once.
What does NEM 3.0 mean for monetization in California?
Under NEM 3.0 (California 2023+), exports earn the avoided-cost rate (typically $0.05–$0.10/kWh) instead of the retail rate. Battery arbitrage and self-consumption now win over feed-in. Outside California, net metering and net billing rules vary by state — Texas (ERCOT) has real-time price exposure, while many states still allow 1:1 NEM.
Is BTC mining surplus solar actually profitable in 2026?
Profitability depends on hashprice ($ per TH/day), local retail electricity rates, and how many surplus hours your system produces. At hashprice $55–$70 and a low-power ASIC (BitAxe, Apollo, Antminer S21 Hyd at low-watt mode), surplus-only mining typically returns $0.05–$0.11 per kWh — competitive with or better than NEM 3.0 export credits.
What is V2H and how does it pay back in the US?
V2H (Vehicle-to-Home) discharges your EV battery during peak grid hours to power the house. The Ford F-150 Lightning + Sunrun Home Integration System was the first mass-market US V2H pairing. V2G (back-to-grid) pilots are live with PG&E, ConEdison, and ComEd. Payback depends on local peak-spread and battery cycle cost.
Does the calculator account for panel degradation and electricity inflation?
Yes. The 25-year NPV chart applies 0.5% annual panel degradation and 3% annual electricity-price inflation, discounted at 5%. LFP batteries are modelled at 6,000 cycles to 80% State of Health. Adjust your assumptions via the sliders.