Grumbles, Glory and All Your Off Topic Discussions

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Profile Gary Charpentier
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Message 104955 - Posted: 5 Aug 2021, 13:15:51 UTC

If solar worked that well, just cover the car in cells and no need for any connection.
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Profile Dave
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Message 104956 - Posted: 5 Aug 2021, 13:36:51 UTC - in response to Message 104955.  

Would probably keep a car charged up for me doing about 30 miles a week most weeks (currently done by bicycle) On the occasional longer journey might just about get it up to full charge before the return journey.
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Message 104958 - Posted: 5 Aug 2021, 14:41:17 UTC

I'm all for reducing the use of carbon based fuels, but wearing my skeptics hat, I find it very hard to believe that all these governments are going to reach their 'all green' power goals in the near future. There just isn't the resources available to produce all the batteries and motor/generators required.

Just consider that just for the UK to go all electric cars is out of the question
In 2019 Richard Herrington, the Natural History Museum’s head of earth sciences, wrote to the Committee on Climate Change pointing out that to meet UK electric car targets will require the entire planet’s production of neodymium, three quarters of its lithium output and 12 per cent of its copper production, not to mention a 20 per cent increase in UK electricity generation.


https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/comment/electric-cars-far-environmental-free-lunch/
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Profile Keith Myers
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Message 104959 - Posted: 5 Aug 2021, 15:50:22 UTC - in response to Message 104953.  

At the park and rid they are talking about covering all the parking spaces with panels which at peak output I guestimate would provide about 1MW which would power 4 of the 12 charging points Tesla have just put in there. However, that could do quite lot of slow chargers given that most will be parking there for about 8 hours while at work.

Exactly. No need for DC fast chargers when you park your car at work for 8 hours. Charge on Level 2 AC. Your battery will be back to full when you go home.
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Richard Haselgrove
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Message 104960 - Posted: 5 Aug 2021, 16:23:20 UTC

Low-rate electric charging at a park-and-ride is definitely one of the ways forward. It would encourage both EV use for the broad rural dispersal at the end of the working day, and also public transport use in the congested city centre. PaR sites are also low density and readily accessible, which would make the infrastructure installation phase much easier.

Just don't expect to power the whole lot by on-site solar power in the UK - the density's too great for that.
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Message 104961 - Posted: 5 Aug 2021, 16:37:39 UTC - in response to Message 104960.  

Just don't expect to power the whole lot by on-site solar power in the UK - the density's too great for that.


My guesstimate is that they could have about 500-750W over each car port. Enough to do the charging in summer up until more than 1/4 of the cars are electric. Though they are also suggesting electric buses such as they have in Finland and Japan. (There may be other places that I don't know about.) They don't have batteries but big capacitors that charge up in less than a minute and are good for about 25 or 30 kilometres.
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Message 104962 - Posted: 5 Aug 2021, 16:48:12 UTC - in response to Message 104961.  

And in winter, when the drivers will need lights, wipers, and heating during the outbound dispersal?
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Message 104972 - Posted: 6 Aug 2021, 16:32:08 UTC - in response to Message 104961.  

Who remembers the soon we will be "Beaming Solar Power From Space " back to earth claim?
https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/05/donald_bren_sspp_gift/

How is that doing?
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Message 105101 - Posted: 13 Aug 2021, 16:13:17 UTC

Grumble: it would seem I have a short circuit in my motherboard. The other day I attached a USB-C cable and the whole computer shut down immediately.
Since that time I have a slight electric burn smell coming from it. It works but I wouldn't say I want to continue running with it for too long.

So Glory: I bought a new motherboard, it'll come in tomorrow. I can then exchange motherboards and bring this one (Asrock X470 Taichi) back to the store on Monday as it's still under warranty and can be sent back to Asrock for them to check. I never could get SMT to work anyway, not without the computer rebooting. So tomorrow the Asrock B550 Steel Legend comes in. Wonder where I left my CPU thermal paste.
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Profile Jord
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Message 105128 - Posted: 14 Aug 2021, 13:57:02 UTC

Grumble: Post.nl saying they were at my door to deliver my motherboard, but I wasn't at home, while I sat literally 2 meters away from the door bell, gaming without headphones on to hear the bell. And this is the kind of bell that'll wake up the dead. I check my camera (which records a picture every 2 seconds) and only saw one van arrive an hour before. I have spoken with that delivery person and he said "yeah I have been there, at number such and so". No other van ever stops in front of my flat or anyone rings the bell.

So I thought I'll go complain. I cannot. I can talk to a bot at their Facebook page, but ain't got that and not going to get it either.
The rest of the complaint options at Post.nl are only for business days between 8:30 and 20:00 hours. The rest of the time the internet is apparently disconnected or otherwise unavailable? You have to explain those newfangled things to me. I cannot even complain about their complaints page until Monday 8:30...

The least client friendly post business in The Netherlands, maybe even the world. But they do keep raising the value of postage stamps every year, and the amount of money you have to pay for sending a package. And with that have large sums of profit each year. Have a 24/7 complaints page though? Nah.

That was another thing, when I got their notification at midnight that they were coming today I immediately tried to change it to picking up at a business point. I could not. Why give the option in the mail when you don't have the option? So now I have to wait till Monday 3pm until I can pick up the motherboard at a business point at the other side of town, instead of the one 70 meters away from me. That's F'you for client friendliness.
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Message 105140 - Posted: 15 Aug 2021, 21:15:22 UTC

Glory, the heat wave has abated, highs today to be in the mid 80s and even better the wild fire smoke is almost gone. I can see blue sky for the first time in days.
I have the machinery to deal with the heat but not the air pollution.
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Profile Keith Myers
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Message 105141 - Posted: 16 Aug 2021, 0:14:31 UTC - in response to Message 105140.  

Grumble: No respite from the heat here. 107° F. and Unhealthy air quality from the smoke. Yellow skies.
Lost the air conditioning for a day. Shut down all the computers. $500 to repair the failed parts.

Glory: A/C back and running. Sent 35kWh excess solar generation back to the grid yesterday. All computers back running.

Grumble: Back to using 90kWh more than I generate.
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Message 105142 - Posted: 16 Aug 2021, 0:43:33 UTC - in response to Message 105141.  

Yep, I have ben through the heat and smoke thankfully the heat pump has been strong through the ordeal.
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Message 105151 - Posted: 17 Aug 2021, 6:03:12 UTC

Grumble: DNO/UKPN still not approved our extra 3.6KW of PV to be connected to grid. The 1.92 on the East side of the hose has already paid for itself and is generating fine. Electrician won't connect without approval. Getting very tempted to connect temporarily myself.
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Les Bayliss
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Message 105152 - Posted: 17 Aug 2021, 6:13:39 UTC

"Down here", they're apparently going to charge you to export your excess.

'Questionable' move to charge solar panel owners for exporting electricity welcomed by welfare groups
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Message 105153 - Posted: 17 Aug 2021, 11:05:05 UTC - in response to Message 105152.  

Sounds to me like politicians with vested interests. My only questions is whether they stand to make millions from climate change or from their friends extracting fossil fuels.
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Message 105161 - Posted: 17 Aug 2021, 18:36:12 UTC

Last week while plugging in a USB C cable at the back of my computer's Asrock X470 Taichi, it turned itself off immediately. Since that time I've had a slight electrical burn smell emanating when I use the PC intensely. So I asked the store I bought the motherboard from if I could still bring it in, as it has 3 years warranty and in November only 2 of those are up. They said all right, so I bought an Asrock B550 Steel Legend as substitute in the mean time, and now that I have that one in... I lost interest in anything computers.

So my grumble is myself. :)
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Profile Keith Myers
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Message 105162 - Posted: 17 Aug 2021, 20:01:36 UTC - in response to Message 105151.  

Grumble: DNO/UKPN still not approved our extra 3.6KW of PV to be connected to grid. The 1.92 on the East side of the hose has already paid for itself and is generating fine. Electrician won't connect without approval. Getting very tempted to connect temporarily myself.

I've been at that stage before also. I just wait until the electrician has left and throw the grid disconnect switch to ON and feign ignorance when the electrician finally shows back up for grid connection after utility go ahead. "Wow, don't know how that got switched!"
In the meantime I've had several days of generation while the utility was twiddling.
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Message 105181 - Posted: 18 Aug 2021, 20:11:16 UTC - in response to Message 105162.  

I've been at that stage before also. I just wait until the electrician has left and throw the grid disconnect switch to ON and feign ignorance when the electrician finally shows back up for grid connection after utility go ahead. "Wow, don't know how that got switched!"
In the meantime I've had several days of generation while the utility was twiddling
.

Our electrician won't wire the inverter box up till they get the approval. Not sure the, "Wow, don't know how that got switched!" defence would work if I wired it in myself?
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Message 105182 - Posted: 18 Aug 2021, 20:13:31 UTC

Grumble: New phone arrived, apps etc. transferred from old phone fine. Only problem is new phone has USB C connector. USB C cable ordered at the same time as phone is not arriving till tomorrow by separate delivery.
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