What is new in your little world?

[Doombrain]

Also thinking about doing this. Would be interested in knowing your projected savings in summer and winter.

[xer0s]

I looked it’s the Tesla solar roof for my new construction. Would have been about $70k for the whole roof. But it wasn’t available in my area. Little steep on the price anyways...

I’m still planning on having a solar array at some point. I’ve got plenty of space, I wouldn’t have to put it on the roof. But it’d still be cool as fuck to have solar shingles...

[Mat Linnett]

Also thinking about doing this. Would be interested in knowing your projected savings in summer and winter.

From what I understand, the UK government recently walked back the legislation allowing homeowners with solar panels to sell any excess back to the grid.

See here:

Changes to the scheme

The scheme will stop accepting new applications after 31 March 2019.

If you’ve installed solar panels and had a Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) certificate issued by 31 March 2019, you can apply to your energy supplier until 31 March 2020.

So yeah, you might still save money on your bill, but you'll no longer be able to profit off of your solar panels

[scared?]

70k for a roof... lol come on Tesla, grow up...

[Eraser]

Also thinking about doing this. Would be interested in knowing your projected savings in summer and winter.

I've had 10 panels installed with a max capacity of 390wP (watt peak) each. In reality the expected result will be a bit less than that, about 3600kWh in a year. My current use is about 4100kWh annually so I'm still short 500kWh in a year.

The Dutch government has a decent deal for solar panels right now. First of all, you can get a return on the VAT you paid for materials and installation of the panels.
As for the generation of power, the energy you return to the grid is subtracted from the energy you buy from the grid. The difference is what you have to pay. So in my case, I'll be paying for 500kWh each year. The advantage here is that you don't have to dick around with batteries for night time power supply because you basically use the grid as your battery. The downside, however, is that over-production is extremely uninteresting.

Buying a kWh costs about 0.25 while selling back over-production only earns you about €0,08. At 8ct per kWh, it'll take such a long time to earn back the investment is then panel(s) that it's better to just install fewer panels and not over-produce.

The gov't has said they are going to make the system more sober, somewhere in 2023 I think, but they've been talking about such plans for years and nothing ever came from it so I'm not sure what or if anything is going to be changed.

Anyway, for me personally, the prognosis is that I'll earn the panels back in about 7 years. After that, it's pure profit. The whole thing cost me about €7000

[Doombrain]

I need to update myself on what the uk gov is doing as per matts post above. Even if there’s no sell back I still believe it’s the right thing to do.

[xer0s]

Absolutely it is.

It’s free energy/money basically. The upfront cost can be substantial, but shouldn’t take more than 5-7 years to recoup. Plus the technology is getting better and the photovoltaic cells are getting cheaper.

The Tesla Powerwalls would be a great addition, even without the roof. I may end up with a couple of those in my garage with the cells outside the yard...

[MKJ]

Yep am currently doing the same thing.

[Don Carlos]

The Tesla Powerwalls would be a great addition

I need to rebuild the garage I have next to my house and I would love a power wall.
Ideally I'd like these (https://www.tesla.com/en_GB/solarroof) to go with it, but I think I'd triple the cost of the garage with both of the powerwall and the tiles.

[Eraser]

Last night me and my girlfriend played the game "30 seconds" with 2 other couples. It's something we do more often, but because we couldn't get together due to the social distancing measures, we set up a three-way video conference call using Discord (tried FaceTime first, but that refused to work properly).

30 seconds is a game perfectly suited for being played this way (if you don't know it, look it up, it's great) and it was good fun.

With most of the people in my social circles having (young) kids, we figured this might be a good idea outside of corona lockdown as well, when one of us can't get a babysitter for the night.

[Doombrain]

Just ordered a Pioneer DDJ 200 cuz I’m running out of things to do and I fancy getting back into mixing again.

[Κracus]

Changed the oil in my car for the first time on my own. What a pain in the ass. Turns out you have to remove this gigantic shield that protects the oil pan and all the parts under the subie to get at the oil filter and drain plug.. it went back on better than I thought though.

[scared?]

only poor ppl change their own oil... fact...

[mrd]

Changed the oil in my car for the first time on my own. What a pain in the ass. Turns out you have to remove this gigantic shield that protects the oil pan and all the parts under the subie to get at the oil filter and drain plug.. it went back on better than I thought though.

What the hell kind of car is that? I have heard of this sort of shit where you have to dismantle half the fucking engine just to get the oil drain plug out. On my shitbox Jeep everything is right out there in the open, about as easy as it gets.

[Doombrain]

This place would be better without Geoff.

[seremtan]

and by "this place" you mean reality more generally

[Κracus]

Changed the oil in my car for the first time on my own. What a pain in the ass. Turns out you have to remove this gigantic shield that protects the oil pan and all the parts under the subie to get at the oil filter and drain plug.. it went back on better than I thought though.

What the hell kind of car is that? I have heard of this sort of shit where you have to dismantle half the fucking engine just to get the oil drain plug out. On my shitbox Jeep everything is right out there in the open, about as easy as it gets.

It's an STI, This part is about the size of a large sled. It covers the entire bottom front area I assume to protect it from debris. You CAN actually reach the oil drain plug without removing it as there's a hole in the shield where the oil drain is but no way you're getting to the oil filter without removing it. I used to have a Jeep Sahara edition, miss that thing some days. Then I get in my car and have AC and my roof doesn't leak and then I'm good. I should buy an old one though as beater but I've been thinking of going the Bucky Lasek route. He bought himself an old 800$ 2 door impreza from 2001 I believe and then he took all the guts out of a 2005 STI and merged them together. The result looks a lot like a 22b, it's pretty fantastic.

[scared?]

This place would be better without Geoff.

the biggest pussy on q3w by far... pathetic chump... :olo: ...

[mrd]

It's an STI, This part is about the size of a large sled. It covers the entire bottom front area I assume to protect it from debris. You CAN actually reach the oil drain plug without removing it as there's a hole in the shield where the oil drain is but no way you're getting to the oil filter without removing it. I used to have a Jeep Sahara edition, miss that thing some days. Then I get in my car and have AC and my roof doesn't leak and then I'm good. I should buy an old one though as beater but I've been thinking of going the Bucky Lasek route. He bought himself an old 800$ 2 door impreza from 2001 I believe and then he took all the guts out of a 2005 STI and merged them together. The result looks a lot like a 22b, it's pretty fantastic.

Oil filter should be accessible through the top front of the engine under the hood, no? I guess every car is different. STI probably has everything packed in nice and tight. Japanese ingenuity, etc. The Jeep doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles but I find it really practical. I can take it off-road, highway driving, daily driver, driving in the snow is fine, almost easy in 4x4 mode, especially if you have good winter tires. Can use it to haul shit (soil for garden, building supplies, canoes, etc.), go camping, etc. Everything in mine works... except the AC, hah! :olo: It actually has a decent amount of get-up-and-go, I think close to 200HP. Nothing crazy but if I'm the only asshole in the car, it fucking goes.

[Κracus]

Nah this thing has an EJ25 motor in it... If you're not familiar with them the pistons move sideways so the whole profile of the engine is much lower than a traditional V4 or Inline 4 engine. The result is a messy looking engine bay, the top of it is just wires and tubing, there's two heads on either side and the oil filter is positioned underneath the car about a half foot from the oil drain plug, it's pretty easy to reach once the shield is off honestly... It's easier than my motorbike! The only thing I could do with the Jeep that I can't with this car is go through extreme offroad situations where ride height matters otherwise it's better in every other way. I can even do doughnuts enough that people will call the police on me I found out...

[seremtan]

you absolute mad lad

[xer0s]

:olo:

[Κracus]

you absolute mad lad

If you don't do doughnuts in empty parking lots after snowstorms you're not living life my friend.

[Eraser]

I bought an LG WK7 smart speaker. Originally ordered a Sonos One SL but found out it didn't support chromecast (I know, should've checked before ordering, but all my friends were adamant about the fact that you can't go wrong with a Sonos One). The LG WK7 also has Google Assistant support (might be a blessing or a curse, but it can be disabled) and is €40-€50 cheaper (depending on which color you choose) than the Sonos (which is €149). Audio quality is pretty decent, especially for a speaker in this price range, although it is a bit too bass-ey for my tastes. Most reviews say the sound quality is comparable with the Sonos One. All in all I think that for me (considering that, apart from an old iPad Mini 2 my kids use, I don't really have Apple products in my house) the LG is the better choice for me.

[Whiskey 7]

Just spent some minutes trying to get an old I phone up and running. I know jack shit about Apple products....

Creating i Cloud accounts for what Why?

Finally I got to make my first Facetime video call. Tough times