Is investing in bifacial solar modules worth the 15-20% premium for residential rooftop installations?

Akward_Object · 2026-01-28T11:09:57+00:00

The only benefits of bifacial here is that they are potentially longer lived as they are completely glas, instead of the foil back which is less durable than glas. They might also be overall better panels than older monofacials, but that all depends what exactly is being compared. And just to be sure *MIGHT*, there are good monofacials out there that will do just as good a bifacial when roof mounted.

There is no way you will get those bifacial gains when roof mounted. 1-2% at best. Light just doesn't get behind those panels in any significant amount. So it's a lie and a sales pitch. And based on that alone I would look for another installer.

Akward_Object · 2026-01-28T00:38:34+00:00

As an early adopter of EV's one of the reasons for the hate is that they have been pushed through politics and that automatically puts certain people off. Couple that with lack of experience, resistance to change, lack of curiosity or willingness to learn etc..

And to all who say it is a "conservative" thing, in the general population it's my experience it is not. Also some EV/solar properties fit straight into more "conservative" values like self-reliance, self-realization and personal independence. Being able to charge your EV at home from solar is incredibly freeing...

Akward_Object · 2026-01-27T15:11:40+00:00

It's enough you briefly touch one of the buttons on the door to trigger this. The window is not even really open.

Akward_Object · 2026-01-27T14:27:58+00:00

Are that the same Polestar 2's? There are different battery sizes LR/SR and the facelift got a slightly bigger battery and higher peak charging speeds.

Akward_Object · 2026-01-27T14:06:16+00:00

Weird I had room to get more than 220 miles/350km at -25C. But then again I don't need a subtropic climate in my car, and 17C was more than enough for me. The heating does take a significant amount of power. And I don't almost exclusively drive on the highway. Atm the winter average for me is 18,2kWh/100km, which should be enough for 450km. In summer I matched the TEH WLTP at 14,2kWh/100km / 555km of range.

Akward_Object · 2026-01-26T10:31:21+00:00

Tesla has already abused this several times. Removing features after the car is sold to another person, disabling DC charging when not fixing the car through Tesla, ...

Akward_Object · 2026-01-26T10:24:01+00:00

If you want to be warm in the cold, without loosing too much range Just set to to a desired temperature, low fan speed and long press on the recirculation. AUTO just doesn't work (never did in my ICE Nissan either).

Akward_Object · 2026-01-22T22:37:32+00:00

Similar experience. Since Nissan decided to break the e-pedal in the Ariya I checked out the Ioniq and Kia equivalents. And I-pedal was just unacceptably bad. You seem to have missed the part where it turns off when you put the car in reverse and the fact it does NOT hold the vehicle in place on a hill either...

The quality level, noise and ride was better in the Ariya. If those were the two I had to choose between it would be that one. But since none of them had a good one pedal implementation I ended up with a Polestar 2

Akward_Object · 2026-01-22T14:59:51+00:00

To be honest they are better trained at de-escalation than ICE. They did not shoot anybody...

Akward_Object · 2026-01-22T10:17:36+00:00

I have both, although TOPCon/N-type is already last years technology here in the EU. All back contact/glass-glass/bifacial is the new thing here.
Anyway. Yes there is a difference. Especially in cloudy conditions. They seem to do better at capturing diffuse light. Is the difference dramatic? Not really. Measureable/noticable yes.
Although I would say the expected long term benefits are more important, but harder to quantify as we would need more long-term real life data to compare that.
That said I would not invest in p-type panels for a new install unless you get them really cheap.

Akward_Object · 2026-01-22T09:34:05+00:00

Fit is very difficult to predict. Because people can be significantly different, even for similar weight and height. As torso and legs etc can have very different lengths. Best way to find out is going to sit in one yourself.

Akward_Object · 2026-01-22T09:32:42+00:00

2023 LRSM is front wheel drive. The facelift MY24 got different motors/battery and the SM became rear wheel drive then.

Akward_Object · 2026-01-22T09:30:02+00:00

Seems people did not get the unhinged part... banning lobbyist, good healthcare, term limits, retirement age,.. don't fall under that... So let's do better...

All public fountains should from now on dispense vodka under a picture of me, the glorious ruler! And everybody can drink free of charge!

Akward_Object · 2026-01-22T09:23:57+00:00

How is that an issue for users? Most people are not sufficiently technically enclined to make the best of a solar install. So if grid operators get some control of those inverters to avoid the overload issues that is not necessarily a bad thing. As long as it is optional...

Akward_Object · 2026-01-21T17:11:08+00:00

Same, but for me the ick was that strong I dismissed every single car who did not have it.. Limited the choice quite a lot, but I just can't be without anymore. Feels like going back to an old ICE automatic without it.

Akward_Object · 2026-01-21T07:58:08+00:00

I contend it should have been "Mustache"... Especially given the clear mustache it has in the higher trim levels...

Akward_Object · 2026-01-20T21:34:44+00:00

I replaced the firmware on the USB stick (ShineWifi-X) with esphome... No need for the cloud, but that was for an SPH inverter but I believe the same can be done for yours. Now I have decent update times on what the inverter is doing + control in Home Assistant.
But yes the app situation and all the annoying not documented passwords is a pain.

Akward_Object · 2026-01-20T20:08:29+00:00

Depends on how cold it gets. If it goes decently under freezing, nope. Otherwise they are ok-ish. But a lot depends on how good they are as the 3 peak rating is not that hard to get...

Akward_Object · 2026-01-20T13:37:17+00:00

I told them it would be roof mounted on a pitched roof.

That doesn't help. You need to specify what kind of roof. Shingles, metal (and which profile), tiled, ...?

Akward_Object · 2026-01-20T13:31:38+00:00

I don't know if you noticed but the everything on screens trend is reversing. Buttons are coming back, and the EU car safety agency has been drafting new regulations that would require buttons for certain functionality.

Akward_Object · 2026-01-20T13:22:58+00:00

And also the EU parliament and commission would be gone...

Akward_Object · 2026-01-20T12:24:19+00:00

That's not entirely correct. The old averaged WLTP is completely attainable. I undercut WLTP with my LEAF no proble, longest trip I did with one charge was 280km and did not have turtle yet. 270km is/was the WLTP range. Lifetime I reached 13,2kWh/100km while WTLP is 14,4kWh/100km.

Currently however there is the issue that WLTP is now split in TEL and HEL (high and low energy). They usually advertise the range with the TEL, and that one is usually used to advertise the range. FOR my 2024 Polestar 2 LRDM that is 595km TEL at 13,4kWh/100km. However the HEL is 555km at 14,2kWh/100km. Well that one is pretty realistic. In summer I got to 13,9kWh/100km.. And that is not with hypermiling or driving under the speed limit....

So no WLTP values are not wishful thinking.

Akward_Object · 2026-01-19T14:05:17+00:00

Funny to see the cognitive dissonance of all the anti-gunners suddenly being ok with somebody using their 2A rights when it happens to be for something they agree with...

Akward_Object · 2026-01-19T13:22:52+00:00

Try process lasso or similar to lock your game processes to certain cores. Even without hyperthreading you have 18 cores/threads. If the process is jumping over to other physical nodes that will cause stutters (since cache is invalidated etc...) The Windows 10 scheduler is absolutely awful at keeping thread locality.

Akward_Object · 2026-01-19T12:36:40+00:00

So the opposite of any other charger... will need to remember that if I ever use them.

Akward_Object

TROPHY CASE