activistPnk
@activistPnk@slrpnk.net
- Comment on Solar panels are gratis in my region. But 10× normal prices to buy. What’s going on here? 2 months ago:
What if you want to sell the house
I’ve not read the contract yet. Considering they include removal an reinstallation labor for free if someone renovates their roof, they theoretically might as well relocate them to another house when moving within their service area (which is constrained as well by the region of the green certificates).
What happens when you want to exit the contract within the 30 years?
Certainly you can buy the gear. Price per panel as they age is something like this:
- years 0-5: €850
- years 5-10: €750
- years 10-15: €650
- …
- year 30: €0
If you want to exit the contract and return the panels, I have no idea. But since these prices seem to be heavily inflated to cover their labor, I imagine it’s quite uninteresting to return the panels.
When the sun is shining at peak brightness, what’s the guarantee that you get to use all of it?
All the boxes have LCDs. The 1st box shows the power generation. Then another box shows what of that you are consuming. I assume the original electric meter is still installed, in which case it might be possible to check the math.
- Comment on Solar panels are gratis in my region. But 10× normal prices to buy. What’s going on here? 2 months ago:
I can only guess. I don’t think that could even be in contract. My guess:
- another company buys it: the buyer takes over the contracts
- liquidation: normally assets go to the creditors. But every homeowner is a creditor for the property in the future. So I think a reasonable court would just turn ownership over to the homeowner. OTOH, the energy company is also a party to the deal because the energy supplier gets the unused power. Perhaps the panels would be taken over by the energy supplier until the 30 year mark.
- Comment on Solar panels are gratis in my region. But 10× normal prices to buy. What’s going on here? 2 months ago:
The cost of installation, wiring and transformers is more than the cost of panels.
They likely factor all those costs into the panel costs. But would labor and parts overhead represent 9/10ths of €8500, for example? Looks like they install 3 boxes in the basement plus panels for around €7500.
After the 30 years of “borrowing” the panels, who pays for their removal and recycling?
I assume that’s the homeowner because the supplier simply makes it all the homeowner’s property after 30 years… likely so they don’t have to deal with it.
- Submitted 2 months ago to energy@slrpnk.net | 9 comments
- Comment on heat your body, not your house -- using an infrared heat lamp 3 months ago:
Great article. I think there are some flaws but it gives lots of good ideas.
Possible flaws:
- Insulating the underside of the work surface would prevent the work surface itself from getting warm. Hands have the most need for warmth. So I would be tempted to insulate the underside of the work surface as suggested but cut out a deliberate thermal bridge around the keyboard and mouse area – or maybe supplement a heating pad on top of the desk.
- Space heaters are discouraged because they output too much power (as they are intended for heating a small room). But space heaters often have thermostats. I have an a/c powered oil radiator on wheels. It may be high wattage but I think it will know when to quit.
- IIUC, they rely on the blanket to mitigate heat loss around the sides of the desk. That’s where I would be tempted to use insulating radiator foil, perhaps in addition to a blanket.
Thick insulation foam for roofing is often thrown out, like when a neighbor re-roofs and buys too much. I will be on the look out for scrap pieces to use under the desk.
- Comment on heat your body, not your house -- using an infrared heat lamp 3 months ago:
Yeah I do the hand sitting and some other tricks… but was looking for a slightly more productive level of comfort without heating the room or house.
- Comment on heat your body, not your house -- using an infrared heat lamp 3 months ago:
It’s not insulated. When I have batteries in the thermostat it has a floor of 5°C/40°F, at which point it heats even in the off state to protect the pipes.
- Comment on heat your body, not your house -- using an infrared heat lamp 3 months ago:
That would help when my wrists rest on the cold desk (which is ergonomically bad anyway). It doesn’t seem like a solution for typing, though if I take frequent rests for hand warming maybe that’d be viable (which I do now by via many cups of hot tea).
About the eyes, I would not want to wear goggles. But I wonder if a good lamp shade could be sufficient. Or is the reflected light also retina deteriorating?
- Submitted 3 months ago to energy@slrpnk.net | 24 comments
- Comment on California utilities scapegoat rooftop solar for high electricity rates 5 months ago:
Indeed standards can’t be relied on and my comment doesn’t assume that.
What I would envision is a company that needs to install a battery swapping infrastructure for a car like this one (which I hear is common in Spain). People and businesses with extra solar power could have a 3rd-party drop off a vending machine which could be brand-specific.
- Comment on California utilities scapegoat rooftop solar for high electricity rates 5 months ago:
How about this as a fix:
The excess solar energy goes to a battery charging vending machine for EVs. Someone with a low battery for an e-bike/scooter or nanocar books a battery and pops by to swap their low battery for a full one. That would perhaps be a way to profit from selling the excess energy instead of getting ripped off by the grid.
- Comment on California utilities scapegoat rooftop solar for high electricity rates 5 months ago:
schools and farms cannot use their own solar energy production and must sell it to the grid at a low price and buy it back at a significantly higher price.
The thing is, they are feeding the grid when the sun is hitting hard (mid-day) which is the time of day when the grid needs the most help. So they are helping to flatten the consumption peaks. They should be getting the best sales price at that point. So it’s like they are getting boned for improving the grid.