$200 Solar Self-Sufficiency Without Your Landlord Noticing
Infrastructure
off-grid solar power
SHOW HN2017
Legend
$200 Solar Self-Sufficiency Without Your Landlord Noticing
$200 Solar Self-Sufficiency Without Your Landlord Noticing
medium.com#solar power#off grid#balcony solar#lead acid battery#renter solar
491points
182comments
#23of 2,242 in 2017
Top 2%of 2017 by points
How HN took it
MixedNo clear lean
11 positive, 37 neutral or asking, 2 mixed, 32 critical, out of 82 comments about the project. Thread score -0.20.
Execution: 4 for, 15 againstIdea: 3 for, 3 againstPricing: 1 for, 4 againstPerformance: 0 for, 5 againstDocs: 1 for, 2 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Useful for off-grid and backup power
From 2 comments
I built a very similar system into my Jeep-house. I have two 100W panels on the pop-top roof, a charge controller and a dedicated solar battery (isolated from the engine-starting…
grecy on HNAfter Hurricane Ike (and 8 days without power) I built almost this exact setup to power my CPAP machine in case of another long-term power outage.
mrbill on HN
Financially attractive payback
From 1 comment
Cool! The one thing I notice the author gets wrong is (out of modesty perhaps) claiming the system isn't very financially successful. But it actually is! > 200W system payback…
galdosdi on HN
Objections
Panel could blow off roof in wind
From 3 comments
Please bolt the panel down, if wind picks it up and blows it off the roof it could easily kill someone.
sitkack on HNIt better be attached well. If there's a windy day, and that thing flies off and kills someone, you will not only be liable, you will have to live for the rest of your life with…
olegkikin on HNI work in solar, and your panel really, really, REALLY needs to be secured from wind. Luckily, they make ballast mounts that don't require screwing into the roof[1][2]. [1]:…
diafygi on HN
Deep discharge will kill lead-acid battery quickly
From 3 comments
The author's calculations for the capacity of the battery are very wrong and the battery will not last many years the way he's using it. Deep cycle lead-acid batteries should not…
kogepathic on HNObvious Problems: 1: You're not using a pure sine wave inverter so right off the back you are losing significant efficiency (Most the things you're charging use DC power anyways…
cjonas on HNI've been using rooftop solar for many years; I live in an RV (for a total of about 7 years, spread across two different RVs, both with solar on the roof). I currently have a…
SwellJoe on HN
Inverter wasteful and square wave output
From 3 comments
Can't imagine why OP has an inverter in the stack when everything connected to it is DC.
bvanderveen on HNObvious Problems: 1: You're not using a pure sine wave inverter so right off the back you are losing significant efficiency (Most the things you're charging use DC power anyways…
cjonas on HNThe author's calculations for the capacity of the battery are very wrong and the battery will not last many years the way he's using it. Deep cycle lead-acid batteries should not…
kogepathic on HN
Landlord rules may forbid rooftop and window items
From 2 comments
> Renters don’t need permission from their landlords to place things on their windowsill and rooftops if it’s not altering the building This has never been the case in any…
adrianmonk on HNHave you talked to your landlord about adding solar panels to the roof? He/she could install them and connect them to your apartment's service, which means you would get the…
URSpider94 on HN
Requests
Secure panel against wind
From 2 comments
I work in solar, and your panel really, really, REALLY needs to be secured from wind. Luckily, they make ballast mounts that don't require screwing into the roof[1][2]. [1]:…
diafygi on HNPlease bolt the panel down, if wind picks it up and blows it off the roof it could easily kill someone.
sitkack on HN
Use grid-tie inverter to credit the electric bill
From 1 comment
Far more cost-effective would have been to skip the battery and just put a cheap chinese pure-sine-wave grid-tie inverter to bridge between the wall outlet and the panel. It's…
mchannon on HN
Power a fridge or fan with the excess energy
From 2 comments
JFYI, the back of the envelope calculation is about energy "created", this assumes that you actually consume it, i.e. that on average you would use that energy (while it is…
jaclaz on HNHe mentions fridge/freezer - I'll just draw attention to this project[0] where the smart guy uses a chest freezer as a fridge with an external thermostat. It has better…
luxpir on HN
Questions
Is a battery safe indoors
From 2 comments
How safe is it to keep that battery indoors? Don't batteries need some ventilation?
ruffrey on HNThis is awesome. The one question on my mind is: is there really no barrier to doing this, like regulation of some kind? I would imagine there's an added fire risk with that kind…
wfunction on HN
Does seasonal output vary
From 1 comment
Does the panel produce the same amount of energy every season? I know that in most of Europe the production during summer months is way higher than during winter and that needs…
msangi on HN
Alternatives named
Yeti-style pre-built solar kits
From 1 comment
These already exist as self-contained kits:…
gwbas1c on HN
Grid-tie inverter setup
From 1 comment
Far more cost-effective would have been to skip the battery and just put a cheap chinese pure-sine-wave grid-tie inverter to bridge between the wall outlet and the panel. It's…
mchannon on HN