hittheskids

joined 2 years ago
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Trump says 'there will be bombing' if Iran does not make nuclear deal in c/[email protected]
[–] [email protected] 52 points 1 week ago (4 children)

wait I thought this guy was anti-war

Balcony solar (sort of) in the US- how might I do this? in c/[email protected]
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Thanks- these links are helpful. A system without a battery sounds more viable than I had considered, but I'm not sure how well it'd work for my intended loads. Maybe I could rethink what I want to run on solar, but I think it's maybe not really an practical option in my setup where the only two loads I have in mind (probably?) require steady power and wouldn't do well with momentary dropouts caused by cloud cover. Good to keep in mind though.

When you say "switch to grid power after it runs out," this is something I was hoping the kit would do automatically for me so I don't have to flip a switch or change plugs from the solar outlet to the grid outlet. If the kit doesn't support that, I wondered if something like this ATS would get me what I want. I'd wonder how exactly it decides to switch back and forth though (it switches to the backup automatically, but will it switch back to primary on its own, and if so, under what conditions? Will it constantly switch back and forth or is there any sort of hysteresis? etc).

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Balcony solar (sort of) in the US- how might I do this? (lemmy.world)
 

I live in the central US in a south-facing apartment with a TON of sunlight, and I've been wanting to set something up mostly for hobbyist/curiosity reasons. I know actual financial benefits are going to be pretty unlikely, and that's ok.

Balcony solar as I understand it to be an option in Europe is pretty much exactly the sort of thing I want to try, but my understanding is it's not compliant with code in the US. Basically I don't expect to be able to have enough solar capacity to power my whole home, but I'd like to be able to just offset as much as I can when the sun is out. And I think I want a battery in the system so it's not only useful when the sun is out.

I'd love something that works like this:

  • Prioritize powering the load from the panels (through an inverter, I assume) when available
  • If the panels alone aren't sufficient, backfill from the battery
  • If the panels + battery aren't sufficient, backfill from the grid
  • When the load does not consume all the power from the panels, use excess to charge the battery
  • Grid is only there as a fallback when the panels and battery aren't sufficient to power the load. Grid does not charge the battery or receive excess from the panels.

If it's not realistic to expect to be able to power the load first from the panels (bypassing the battery), skipping that part and just always powering from the battery and backfilling from the grid maybe would simplify things. I just thought it'd be nice to avoid the inefficency of charging and discharging the battery when the sun is out.

My hope is to have a single solar-backed outlet in my living room off my balcony. During the summer, I'd probably use it to partially offset my little window unit AC. Other parts of the year when I don't run the AC, maybe I'd use it to offset my TV.

Does anything like this exist? My preference would be to get a kit (Ecoflow etc) that includes as much of the functionality as possible and then add on if necessary for any missing functionality, but I would be interested in more piecemeal DIY solutions too of they're reasonably approachable for a beginner. I've watched a lot of "solar at various price points" videos on Youtube and sometimes some of the kits sound like they get pretty close to what I want, but I've never seen this exact combination of functionality discussed.

Thanks.

Silverchair - Freak in c/[email protected]
[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

I got into silverchair in 1998ish between Freak Show and Neon Ballroom. Freak Show was exactly where I was musically at the time, and Neon Ballroom was very unexpected for me when it first released, but I really felt like I grew with the band. I can't really even listen to Frogstomp or Freak Show anymore, but I still love Neon Ballroom onward.

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Anyone have any experience with any of the wireless home internet options? (lemmy.world)
 

I have Comcast, but my deal for the last two years recently ended just in time for me to also start having hour+ long outages multiple times per week. I'm curious about my options, and specifically I wonder how viable wireless options like Verizon or T-Mobile are. Are the speeds consistent (and high) enough for video conference? Video streaming? I don't really game so I don't think latency is that important for me.

I live in the Cheesman/Cap Hill area and have one of those hideous green Verizon 5g poles right outside my building, but the eligibility checker on Verizon's site thinks it may not be in range for me somehow so I wonder how fragile it is.

I have Mint Mobile (T-Mobile) with no issues at home but I guess I'm not really stressing the throughput on my phone.