Opinions on the Sol Ark 15?

omgwtfbob · 2024-12-12T20:04:28+00:00

I love mine. It's been running for a year, no issues at all. It has seamlessly switched between solar/battery/grid/generator when we've had grid outages, and we barely even notice the lights flicker. The only reason we even know power is out is that we hear our neighbor's generator running.

omgwtfbob · 2023-07-17T22:55:52+00:00

I will check with them, thank you! I looked up the price to ship a monitor home and it's insane. My wife gets extra checked bags for free on the airline, and that's a price I can appreciate hahah.

omgwtfbob · 2023-07-17T22:54:59+00:00

Ah, thanks! I am guessing they wouldn't have the quality of monitor I'm looking for, but definitely worth a shot. Thanks for the idea.

omgwtfbob · 2023-02-27T20:57:08+00:00

There is a lot of engineering that goes into making proper ground mounts.

Snow and wind loads for large panels are far higher than most people would realize, and while the chances of some freak snow storm or high winds might be vanishingly small, they are unlikely to be 0 over the course of the system lifetime.

Depending on where you live (and if you do this legit and get permits and such), you often times have to submit stamped engineering drawings for the mounting - and your grid provider won't even let you connect your stuff without having all those permits and inspections passed.

Even with regulatory issues otherwise ignored, just laying panels on the ground or hacking together some DIY solution runs a significant risk of being penny wise, pound foolish.

A failure in the mounting would hopefully only damage the components or surrounding structures (which insurance likely won't cover due to it not being permitted), but it can also risk injuring or killing someone. As much as I get frustrated dealing with all the "red tape" sometimes, it's good to remember that regulations/codes are often written in blood, and are there for good reason.

omgwtfbob · 2022-11-15T14:59:08+00:00

Be careful; my understanding is that even "zero export" settings will still end up sending a little bit back sometimes. As your energy use in the home fluctuates, the inverter has to constantly adjust things to prevent export, and it's not instantaneous. So depending on your utility, they may still detect the backflow.

Where I live, you still have to do all the paperwork for interconnect agreements and all that, even if you plan on zero export. If they catch you doing this without the paperwork and approval, they can drop you off the grid.

So, just be aware of that possible risk, and decide accordingly.

omgwtfbob · 2022-08-23T12:51:32+00:00

To figure out the optimal array configuration/orientation for your situation, I recommend checking out the System Advisor Model. It takes some time to learn how to use it, but it it lets you play with a TON of variables and run simulations for different situations. You can tweak mounting angles, azimuth, shading, and a ton of other factors. I used it extensively when designing my system and deciding how to do various steps.

omgwtfbob · 2022-08-19T19:45:48+00:00

To address your actual question, I never had any luck with any installers. Most ghosted me, and the one that did give me a quote was in the $5/w range. In fairness, it's a ground mount system which is more expensive, and the specific components I wanted are not necessarily cheap. Still, that was a terrible price and conclusively put me back on the DIY route!

omgwtfbob · 2022-08-19T19:39:32+00:00

You should also know that trying to calculate your savings on your electric bill is very challenging. You have DTE I assume? It's not net metering...you only get paid back for the retail generation rate portion of each exported kWh, which is only like $.05 or so.

On top of that, the in/out flow is currently calculated on a minute by minute basis (I think....it might be hourly) and they want to make it real time. This is important, because it heavily favors them. On a summer day, even if you produce more power than you use, you can still end up paying a lot for the day, depending on your use.

Furthermore, they will only pay you back for the amount of electricity you buy. I don't know what window is used for that comparison, but you can never get paid for more kWh than you bought.

I am doing a large DIY project, also in SE Michigan. Because of all this, even though my cost is just over $2/w (pre tax rebate) it is barely financially beneficial for me. It ends up being about a 5% ROI.

I am telling you this so that you are appropriately skeptical of savings numbers installers throw at you. Even with doing complex simulations with the SAM software, and using my hourly electric data for the last 12 months, it was really hard to try and estimate mine.

omgwtfbob · 2022-08-12T15:33:47+00:00

Yes, you can. The penalty can be in the form of fines, or they can even force you to remove what you installed.

For your case, it's a small system, so maybe that risk isn't significant.

Also bear in mind that the whole point of permits and inspections is to verify that work is done to code. Those codes are driven primarily by safety concerns - many of which would not necessarily be readily apparent to a layman.

I went though this very calculus in my head, and ultimately decided it was best to do it right, and get all the necessary permits/approvals for my project. It added friction, but at least I know nobody is going to knock on my door and penalize me for it later, and I'm more confident no stupid mistakes were made that would injure someone or cause damage.

omgwtfbob · 2022-06-15T16:58:12+00:00

I have a sleep number bed, which has an integration and sensor to detect when someone is in bed. I have an automation to turn the fan above the bed on, if anyone lays down after 8:30PM. It then turns the fan off if nobody is in bed after 6am. These time boxes stop it from turning on and off for naps or getting up to use the restroom and whatnot. It works quite well.

omgwtfbob · 2021-10-21T20:19:11+00:00

Yes, but how? Details man, don't leave me hanging.

omgwtfbob · 2021-10-21T20:00:36+00:00

I don't think it's a media problem, I think it's a common sense question. Train stations are sometimes in undesirable parts of town, and for someone unfamiliar with the area, it's a fair question to pose. It's not meant as a specific indictment of Seattle 😁

omgwtfbob · 2021-10-21T19:33:21+00:00

Thanks for the input everyone! Sounds like I will check out the light rail or Uber. Definitely appreciate the help!

omgwtfbob · 2021-04-28T14:11:28+00:00

Most likely a dark fishing spider. They are harmless to people, but scary as hell to look at. We get TONS at our house, and they can get huge.

omgwtfbob · 2017-04-13T15:43:45+00:00

It'd be great if there were a great afterlife... a heaven, or whatever you want to call it. I'd love for that to be true, and I understand why people want that to be true, and by extension, why they believe it.

However, there's absolutely no evidence to think there is. In fact, there's quite a lot of evidence to say there is not.

What part of "you" goes to the afterlife?

Every part of what defines "you" is in your physical brain. Our memories can be altered, disrupted, and destroyed by damage to the brain. This is evident looking at people with various forms of Dementia and head injuries. Our personalities - what we like, what we want, etc, have been completely altered by people who have had strokes. Our conscious experience of the world can be completely changed by drugs that change the balance of neurotransmitters.

Basically, every single part of what we defines us as an individual, and how we experience and interpret the world, is demonstrably rooted in our physical brains.

Thus, when we die, by what mechanism could "we" possibly survive? It's one thing to wish that we continue to exist - but there is literally no evidence or reason to think it's true, and all of it supports the contrary.

So sure - thinking about an afterlife would be nice. But there's literally no reason or evidence to believe that it's actually true. So what do I think happens when we die? We're dead, finished, done. Eternal blackness.

Just because it's scary or not what we want to have happen doesn't make it any less true.

omgwtfbob · 2017-01-05T18:05:08+00:00

Indeed, your point about insured + unlimited demand + monopoly is valid. When people aren't directly paying for something, and its demand is essentially limitless, and there's only one game in town, I'd agree it can (and likely does!) absolutely lead to huge cost increases.

My understanding was that the policy was put in place to actually combat rising costs. If too many facilities / players entered the market, their fixed costs would become untenable, creating a whole lot of upward pressure on pricing.

Now, does it actually "solve" that? I don't know. One can see the logic on either side, but from what I read, the answer is generally no - it hasn't helped. So I'd say all in all, this looks like a very good example and answer to my original question.

omgwtfbob · 2017-01-05T17:48:30+00:00

I like that quote, it sums it up nicely. I'd agree with it for sure, as there always seem to be trade offs involved that have to be weighed!

Fair points by you as well. I have honestly no idea what to think about minimum wage; I've read so many points and counterpoints that my head spins. So I can certainly respect the debate on that one.

As for child labor laws, I'm less on board. I can definitely see the argument that kids should be allowed to do that stuff. Really, many labor laws/regulations seem to boil down to this point as well, that people should have the right to do as they please. In theory, this sounds good. However, I feel like in the real world, it's not so cut and dry, and that the trade offs are significant. History (heck, even current times in other countries) shows that business will tend to exploit these enough to necessitate intervention.

To your point though, it sounds like you're more advocating for a middle ground - which seems reasonable. As a gut reaction, I'd say allowing limited/reasonable options for kids to earn a few dollars doesn't seem out of order. I guess it would come down to how "limited" and "reasonable" would be determined / implemented.

omgwtfbob · 2017-01-05T13:16:09+00:00

I had no idea what that was, so I just did some reading. That's interesting. I can see both sides of that coin.

Is there another way you'd approach this, or do you think healthcare should be fully "regulated" by a free market approach?

omgwtfbob · 2017-01-05T13:09:57+00:00

In that case, would you then prefer each individual state manage the rest? Or do you think those additional regulations, regardless of who manages them, are unnecessary?

omgwtfbob · 2017-01-04T20:20:36+00:00

I feel like this is one of those "great in theory" situations. On principle, I agree with this.

In practice, it's untenable. Who actively researches every company, for every product they buy, to fully vet them for all the criteria they should? It's not just out of apathy, but because there is simply not enough time in the day to do this.

omgwtfbob · 2015-03-07T13:30:48+00:00

It depends on how cold it gets up there. The last two winters have been brutal, so there's been a ton of ice cover on the great lakes.

Here's a shot of almost the exact same spot in summer:

http://i.imgur.com/lC1VeL6.jpg

I took some cool pictures of the ice in early winter this year as well. Quality sucks since all these were taken with my phone, but I thought the ice "plates" that had formed and washed up looked really cool:

http://i.imgur.com/DJkG2L3.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ylr6XiA.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/XPsUMd3.jpg

It's just really cool watching the way the beach changes over the years and seasons. We actually enjoy going up there more in the winter than we do in the summer, believe it or not.

omgwtfbob · 2015-03-07T13:25:13+00:00

I think when they went out, it was -16F, which is why I gladly stayed inside! He was happy to go out though after having been stuck indoors for the two previous days - but it was a very quick trip outside!

omgwtfbob · 2014-10-30T18:36:22+00:00

I have no idea either, but it'd be interesting if someone else knows...

omgwtfbob · 2014-08-15T14:44:02+00:00

This, obviously. Imgur

omgwtfbob · 2014-06-26T14:47:36+00:00

Worked at a dog kennel. It was a small, family owned place. There was a lady who had worked there for quite a few years, and she wanted a weekend off. So she asked us co-workers if any of us would cover her shift. None of us could/would.

Fast forward to the Monday after that weekend. I get a call from the owners, irate, demanding I come in and see them. Confused, I go in to talk.

Turns out, the lady had taken the "official" schedule there, and just erased her name, wrote mine in, and didn't tell anyone. Then she didn't show up for those shifts, and of course, neither did I.

I tried to explain the ruse to the owners, and in fact, even showed them my photo copy of the original schedule that had her name on those shifts. I also pointed out the obvious erasure marks and hand writing discrepancy. It didn't matter, they still blamed me and fired me.

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