Project Sunroof • Hacker News Board

Re: Project Sunroof

#61

Post by justplay » Mon, Aug 17, 2015, 5:08 PM UTC

404 when accessed with Indian IP

Re: Project Sunroof

#62

Post by distantsounds » Mon, Aug 17, 2015, 5:13 PM UTC

swalsh wrote: post #18

Weird, it says it covers Boston but when I put my Boston address (single family in the city of Boston itself) it says they haven't reached the address yet.

I put in my Medford address and got results. I don't own, but it's still interesting to see.

Re: Project Sunroof

#63

Post by jvm » Mon, Aug 17, 2015, 5:14 PM UTC

Forgive my ignorance, what does one do during non-insolated hours? Do solar cells typically come with battery packs or does one just pull from the grid?

If the latter then the cost savings are a bit less impressive than stated.

Also can you put power back into the grid in San Francisco? Is that benefit included in the cost savings estimate?

Re: Project Sunroof

#64

Post by ChuckMcM » Mon, Aug 17, 2015, 5:15 PM UTC

rwc wrote: post #58

Shouldn't this be the "S" or "P" in Alphabet? Why is this a Google project?

Because its "Google Maps advertising", the project is to help Google Maps make a bit more money by selling solar installs via their tool. The "G" company is all about the advertising :-)

Re: Project Sunroof

#65

Post by uptown » Mon, Aug 17, 2015, 5:16 PM UTC

Are firefighters any less likely to enter a house fire where the roof is covered in heavy solar panels? I've heard stories, but never dug into whether it was anti-solar FUD.

Re: Project Sunroof

#66

Post by qooleot » Mon, Aug 17, 2015, 5:17 PM UTC

Shebanator wrote: post #57

davidw wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting: "1,960 hours of usable sunlight per year" I wonder how they arrive at that number, and how accurate it is? Anyone in SF want to try a few addresses in Outer Sunset vs the Mission? I'd be interested in seeing that number alone mapped out over the US on a zoomable map.

FWIW, at least in my case, the numbers here seem optimistic. I had SolarCity come out and do a proposal for my house in San Jose about four years ago. Because my single story house is surrounded by big trees and two story houses, they said I only had a small area where they could install panels with sufficient efficiency, for a 3kW system. Sunspot says I could install an 8kW system covering 1475 sq ft, compared to ab…

Maybe panel prices have dropped enough in the last 4 years that partially-lit areas are now worth covering in solar (cost < savings * acceptable ROI months).

Re: Project Sunroof

#67

Post by fakename » Mon, Aug 17, 2015, 5:17 PM UTC

My pg&e bills have never surpassed $50/month, so project sunroof convinced me that solar is not a good investment!

Re: Project Sunroof

#68

Post by krisgenre » Mon, Aug 17, 2015, 5:18 PM UTC

justplay wrote: post #61

404 when accessed with Indian IP

Same even with a Canadian IP.

Re: Project Sunroof

#69

Post by pella » Mon, Aug 17, 2015, 5:20 PM UTC

justplay wrote: post #61

404 when accessed with Indian IP

https://www.google.com/get/sunroof/about/

https://www.google.com/get/sunroof/faq/

Re: Project Sunroof

#70

Post by qooleot » Mon, Aug 17, 2015, 5:20 PM UTC

jvm wrote: post #63

Forgive my ignorance, what does one do during non-insolated hours? Do solar cells typically come with battery packs or does one just pull from the grid? If the latter then the cost savings are a bit less impressive than stated. Also can you put power back into the grid in San Francisco? Is that benefit included in the cost savings estimate?

Often, the most economical answer is heating a water heater rather than storing via a battery.