DIY Off-Grid Solar Power • Hacker News Board

Re: DIY Off-Grid Solar Power

#231

Post by n3dm » Tue, Dec 28, 2021, 12:00 PM UTC

sandworm101 wrote: post #132

Marketing. I would take everything on this website with a grain of salt. Take it from someone who has actually built an off-grid system, one that is relied upon for 24/7/365 living rather than mere vacation cottage. For example: OP re lead-acid battery options: "Heavy, cheap, easy to use and they work! Typically will last about 3-5 years. Slower charge rates than lithium, much heavier, and they cost way more in the l…

Not sure if this is a troll post. Your lead acid comment is sImPlY iNcOrReCt, and you clearly don't know the owner of the website as he is a dude who runs his YouTube channel in a very transparent way.

Re: DIY Off-Grid Solar Power

#232

Post by nataz » Wed, Dec 29, 2021, 6:17 PM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #222

nataz wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

His whole thing is no sponsorships... He had a couple of sponsored videos in the past around building all in one systems, but it's not something he does anymore.

Quoted post unavailable.

It's clear that Will has rubbed you the wrong way by his responses in this thread, but when you call out someone's professional conduct linked to their business in public forum words matter.

Lead generation into Amazon affiliate links are not a sponsorships.

His business makes money off of affiliate links, not sponsorships. There is a difference. Both could carry a bias, but a sponsorship is significantly more suspect than an Amazon affiliate program. For another example, see Wirecutter, also funded by affiliate links, but (until recently post NYT buy out issues) a pretty respected review site. Personally, I generally wouldn't buy anything off the recommendation of a YouTube sponsorship. I would consider buying something that had an affiliate link.

Feel free to let me know if I missed a sponsorship disclaimer.

Here is the disclaimer his website.

Prowse Publications LLC (www.mobile-solarpower.com) is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com I make a commission for sales made through affiliate links posted on this website

Re: DIY Off-Grid Solar Power

#233

Post by wglb » Wed, Dec 29, 2021, 8:11 PM UTC

Syonyk wrote: post #160

DyslexicAtheist wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

sounds a bit gate-keepy to me. People tell me that I shouldn't repair my own car for similar reasons. Instead I should go to the OEM and have it serviced there for 1000,- a pop. This assures I'm getting genuine OEM branded parts with a 800% profit margin while also reducing the time spent on diagnosing the issue because now whole modules get replaced since cost of human labor is expensive. If I would heed that advise…

I've zero objections with people learning about power systems and such. My objection is with people learning it from YouTube, because the ratio of "good, safe, correct information" to "absolute crap" is horrible, and until you're quite solid in the field, there are people very confidently spouting exceedingly wrong and dangerous information (tip: If you ever see anyone soldering to an 18650, assume everything else th…

It seems that you are approaching Sturgeon's law there.

Re: DIY Off-Grid Solar Power

#234

Post by thot_experiment » Mon, Jan 03, 2022, 7:58 PM UTC

t0mas88 wrote: post #64

thot_experiment wrote: post #46

NGL I think I have a pretty efficient setup and I'm in the process of installing a 4th panel (bringing my total to 1220W) because 915W isn't really cutting it for winter power now that I'm not spending time outside much. My quiescent draw/day is about 500Wh just doing nothing (fridge + internet) and on a cloudy day I'll make maybe 800Wh with the current setup. I don't think 800W of panels will let you power anything…

You could get a 12v to 48v DC converter on the car side of things. That already helps a lot in cable thickness.

When I looked into this previously I wasn't able to find a suitably sized boost converter but it seems like there are higher capacity ones cheaply available now. Thanks for the suggestion I may very well end up doing this.