Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Project Sunroof

google.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

111–120 of 233 posts

Re: Project Sunroof

#111

Post by mikeash »

dreamcompiler wrote: post #96
VLM wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It smells of the anti-hybrid astroturfing from a decade or so ago where numerous Ford and GM employees would be glad to tell you on social media that if you get into a car accident in a hybrid, emergency services will leave you to bleed out and die because its a hybrid so you should have bought a SUV or truck like a RealAmerican(tm). My father in law did the volunteer fire dept thing in his rural area and its very de…

Everything above is correct. (I'm a volunteer firefighter.) Firefighters nowadays are trained to deal with the high-voltage DC that's present in hybrid and electric cars. It may take a little longer to extricate a victim, but it won't stop us. As for houses, we won't bother entering a burning residence at all unless we're likely to find a person still alive, or the nature of the fire is such that the danger to us --…

I assume part of the training is how to locate the right stuff to cut to shut off the high-voltage connection? Have you ever had to do that in practice, and if so how hard is it on a car that's been mangled?

Re: Project Sunroof

#112

Post by MRSallee »

Can anyone with more knowledge of solar technology speak to this?

I know nothing about solar technology developments. I am interested in adding solar to my house some day, but concerned about spending a lot of money today for solar panels that will either (a) be much cheaper in 5-10 years, or (b) be replaced by much more effective panels in 5-10 years.

Assuming that the economics of it are the only motivation for going solar, and that with current technology and pricing the panels pay for themselves only after ~10 years, am I better off waiting a few years to get more efficient/cheaper panels, or is it unlikely we'll make significant advancements in these areas, and/or do current government incentives (which may be ephemeral) make up for the advantages of future tech?

Re: Project Sunroof

#113

Post by minthd »

dicroce wrote: post #80

I live in Fresno, AKA, the surface of the sun. It says my yearly savings on a leased system is $2300! Wow. I may be installing solar soon!

What's the difference for you , between leasing and buying ?

Re: Project Sunroof

#114

Post by dreamcompiler »

djb_hackernews wrote: post #36

I was recently thinking about a project to show how easy it would be to power the entire US on solar panels. It actually wouldn't require much land, in fact if you put panels on every building top and parking lot you'd be almost there. What I was imagining was something that'd show you "ideal" spots for solar farms. Ideal meaning proximity to population centers, orientation of land, environmental impact, etc.

Generating enough PV power for US electricity needs is easy. Covering a few square miles in Arizona with PV would do the trick. But storing and transmitting that electricity is damn difficult.

Re: Project Sunroof

#116

Post by cookiecaper »

They really need to get Florida mapped. Florida is a great candidate for solar power, but the state government is pretty clearly in the power utility's pocket and they work to make it very difficult for solar providers out here.

Re: Project Sunroof

#117

Post by JshWright »

uptown wrote: post #65

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.

No. The weight of the panels and the strength of the roof are accounted for when the system is designed.

Modern lightweight truss construction fails so quickly under a fire load, we're unlikely to make an aggressive attack if the fire has been burning in the attic space for any length of time, panels or no.

Re: Project Sunroof

#118

Post by andyl »

oaktowner wrote: post #108
andyl wrote: post #21

Fusion of maps, 3d modeling, electricity & lease rates, solar intensity, installers. Easy to use. This feels like something new and powerful. For society: I wonder if it is safe for so much power to be concentrated in one organization. As a technical accomplishment: I'm impressed.

But Google doesn't have power over electricity and lease rates or lists of installers -- they're just using publicly available data. There are other sources for maps data, and many people have 3d modeling software. So I'm not sure how this is "so much power" concentrated in one organization.

To me, what makes it powerful is the ubiquity - the 'full take' ness of it all. Sure the app is solar-related data, just for a few regions. But could include whatever data Google chooses, expanded to the whole world, for whatever audience Google chooses.

I've worked with aerial surveillance systems, the types used on police choppers. Put the crosshairs of the flir camera on a house and it will tell you all kinds of stuff: age/race of occupants, arrest records, warrants, tax status, etc. Amazing for LE, but a bit big-brotherly for my taste.

In the wrong hands, in the wrong circumstances, data fusion has incredible potential for abuse. IMHO. :-)

Re: Project Sunroof

#120

Post by dreamcompiler »

mikeash wrote: post #111
dreamcompiler wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everything above is correct. (I'm a volunteer firefighter.) Firefighters nowadays are trained to deal with the high-voltage DC that's present in hybrid and electric cars. It may take a little longer to extricate a victim, but it won't stop us. As for houses, we won't bother entering a burning residence at all unless we're likely to find a person still alive, or the nature of the fire is such that the danger to us --…

I assume part of the training is how to locate the right stuff to cut to shut off the high-voltage connection? Have you ever had to do that in practice, and if so how hard is it on a car that's been mangled?

The car manufacturers use bright colors (typically fluorescent orange) on cables that carry high voltage. We don't cut them! Too dangerous. Instead we avoid them, and assume that the car is energized.

http://www.nfpa.org/~/media/files/research/research%20founda...

Post reply on HN