KnCMiner has annouced that it will launch deployment of its "Solar" line of chips in Q1 2015.

Based in Sweden, KnCMiner has indicated that its new chip will have a 16 nm process, which represents an improvement over the 20 nm process which was used in the Neptune.

KnCMiner was first to market with a 20nm process with the Neptune, which achieved an efficiency of 0.7 W per Gh/s.

If a 20 nm process can achieve an efficiency of 0.7 W per Gh/s, then what do you think the Solar line of chips can achieve? Well, if sources at KNC are to be believed, a ten-fold improvement is to be had at 0.07 W per Gh/s.

In other words, a 1.4 KW miner which could run from your 15 amp home outlet could hash at a rate of 20 TH/s. Yikes!

The technology which enables this leap in efficiency is called FinFET which allows chip designers to sculpt transistors in 3D, instead of the standard planar modeling.

The Solar ASIC, which features 5000 cores, has yet to go into full production. Whether the Solar manufacturing rollout goes smoothly or whether it will be plagued by manufacturing issues like those which sunk manufacturer Hashfast remains an open question. Time will tell.