Let's do this.
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@TechConnectify thanks for being on Fediverse.
@almino @TechConnectify I wish it was easy enough to upload to a PeerTube instance that Alec would choose to do so, for people that don't want to suffer YT ads.
But, the combination of so little reach and no (or even negative) revenue makes it hard to justify much, if any, effort.
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@TechConnectify
️ and thank you. -
renewables > burning fuel
building capital > operating
<ending type=fake>
community > fascism
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@TechConnectify you are awesome.
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@TechConnectify
Truth. -
@TechConnectify seeing all the "haven't watched it all yet but pretty great so far" comments...
Hrrrrrnnnnnghhhh...WATCH TO THE END!
@msh @TechConnectify haha, I'm halfway thru after 2 watch sessions
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This was awesome
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@TechConnectify Thank you!
I'm just at the start section and all of the benefits of solar bits I'm going "OK, this video isn't for me, it's an education piece for the dumb portion of the Americans and the UK Reform voters" but looks like I really need to watch the rest!
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@TechConnectify Thank you so much for making every second of this video.
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> six solar systems installed between 1987 and 1993 that have been in continuous operation since, and found most panels still producing more than 80% of their original output after nearly four decades.
https://electrek.co/2026/01/28/how-long-do-solar-panels-last-new-study-shows-its-longer-than-you-think/
@TechConnectify@cwilcox808 @mattesilver @TechConnectify that’s not universally true, though!
There’s a German electrician working on PV sites who’s documenting his attempts to repair a certain type of PV panel where the backside laminates deteriorate after only a few years… https://youtu.be/D-vWFO0gnUk to the point of complete loss of power generation because the isolation breaks down.
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@TechConnectify Thank you.
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@TechConnectify Thank you so much for this. For both parts!
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@BalooUriza
I might be entirely wrong but as I understand it they have pretty sophisticated current leakage and monitoring abilities and very very quick shut-off. So yes it's back feed but it can detect if something anomalous has happened so it locks out if a breaker is tripped or if a line is cut.
I don't believe you can use these in an outage situation, and you're correct it would be unsafe without an interlock.
@f4grx @balkonsolar@pfriedma @f4grx @BalooUriza true, you can't use these in an outage. They don't oscillate themselves, need the grid to follow it (not an expert, @balkonsolar know the details probably). So for danger, the remaining thing is the shape of the plug, with the german "SchuKo" style hiding the pins until the connection is severed, which isn't quite so easy with these flat US-style sockets i guess... There's still discussion about "but what if i really quickly pull the plug out" though...
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@utf_7 @TechConnectify it is in fact 2 videos attached in the middle. The second part, not talking about solar, is considered by many to be the important part.
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@TechConnectify Fantastic video! Thank you for being open and honest about the messed up politics occurring in the country too!
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@pfriedma That's what I'm saying,you'd need to have a cutover interlock at the breaker box, AND you can't just plug panels into any random outlet (since you would be bypassing circuit protection). I know that much from living someplace where my neighbor generated all the power for like 3 households and dealing with that, and still have capacity left over and still had a cutover to sell back power to the electric co-op.
Or is this just explaining modular solar badly?
@BalooUriza @pfriedma @f4grx @balkonsolar
A grid-tied solar PV inverter isn't like a gas generator. It follows the grid waveform and will cut out within one cycle if the grid is lost. Unplugging the inverter, the plug is dead before the pins are exposed to be touched.At 230V, 800W (the German limit for plugin solar) is ~3.5A. The German electrical regulator has deemed that a typical 16A power circuit wired in 1.5 sq.mm. cable will still be safe with 3.5A of current fed from the "wrong end".
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@TechConnectify Amazing video. Absolute aces all around. Some meandering thoughts:
1- The starting discussion around Midwestern values around frugality and investing wisely kept echoing as a corollary of the Vimes Boots Theory of Socieoeconomic Unfairness that I expected it to get mentioned. I'm assuming you know what that is, but that leads right into my next thought...
2- Building off your statement "I kind of already assumed everyone knew what we were trying to do", plainly stating assumptions is one of the most useful tools for solving problems I have found in the past ten years. My day job is supporting some niche technology infrastructure, and when I get pulled into a problem it's because things are seriously, seriously weird. I've had multiple occasions where I've "walked the stack" out loud, and someone else chimed in to correct some component of pile which led to figuring out what was wrong and how to solve it.
I think there's a more advanced theory of mind issue around understanding and addressing the inherent assumptions other people make. I have no idea how that realization will help make better videos, but I'm excited to see it happen.
2a- While I agree that there's a massive capitalist interest in misleading people, my gut says the bigger challenge is people just... not reexamining assumptions that are years or decades out-of-date. Either because it's cognitively expensive (taking time and mental focus off of day-to-day work, which is also an opportunity capitalist interests are happy to exploit), or because they straight up lack the tools to approach the subject. Maybe that's wrong, and fraud/deception are really the impetus behind wasting time and money on disposable energy.
But I really think the Overestimate Short Term & Underestimate Long Term problem does a lot more heavy lifting in that regard. Humans in survival mode (as so many of us have been for the past 10-40 years) need to focus on the short term, and thinking about the long term is an unaffordable luxury.
3- Tangentially related to cognitive expense/load, I process information better with my eyes than my ears. Showing more of the math when you were running the numbers would have made that easier for me to grasp and process.
Yes, Excel is one of my most-used applications of all time. How did you know?
4- There was a dark, gallows laugh when you talked about the First Amendment rights and the press being declared enemies of the people as Donald Trump is racistly arresting four black journalists. (I'm not laughing because it's funny, I'm laughing because it's an easier emotional outlet than crying)
5- We've lost so much from caring too much about what billionaires and cult leaders say, and caring too little for our own neighbors. I don't know how we solve the big problem. I'll do my part with my skills, like the repair café I'm volunteering at next weekend. We need to build more, better fucking community, damnit.
(sorry for spammy edit/reposting. markdown is being an asshole with list formating)
@drsbaitso @TechConnectify people now have the tools so they don't need to think anymore.
They are just too lazy to ask the question.
I am not using AI here to be lazy and correct you with slop. I just want to show that the answer is so obvious it is strongly baked into the probability machine. -
I'm just at the start section and all of the benefits of solar bits I'm going "OK, this video isn't for me, it's an education piece for the dumb portion of the Americans and the UK Reform voters" but looks like I really need to watch the rest!
@hittitezombie @TechConnectify yes you do
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@TechConnectify I enjoyed this piece.
