I’ve been SUPER happy with my Hyundai Elantra.  I can’t believe it’s been over 12 years since I did my geeky car purchase calculations and bought it new!

Unfortunately over the past year I’ve noticed that it’s been harder and harder to unlock my car and disengage the alarm using both of my keyless remote FOB’s.  At first I thought my batteries were dead.  After a handful of futile attempts at replacing the battery, I realized there was another problem and I needed at least one replacement FOB.

I called the local Hyundai dealers and all of them wanted $180+ for a new remote and to also program it!  I can get the units on eBay for $40, but I still have to pay the dealer $90 to program it.  Yes, I know you can program these yourself. I’ve purchased and programmed these keyless remotes for other cars, but in all my research I discovered that for a handful of reasons, doing so with the Hyundai was a total pain.  I figured I’d just eat the expense and get a new one from the dealer.

Well, since I’d be getting a new one, I might as well open up one of the ones I had and see what was going on.  I disassembled the keyless remote and discovered that the super tiny SMT (Surface-mount technology) switch was no longer working.  The little button on the switch wouldn’t depress at all.

Could it really be just this tiny little switch that is keeping both of my $180 remotes from working?  I’ve been so crazy busy over the last 4-5 years that I haven’t done much of any electric work or soldering.   The thought of fixing this itty bitty switch was just too exciting to pass up (click the picture to the left with a dime for size reference).

I went to Fry’s Electronics & Radio Shack and neither had a switch even remotely close to being small enough.   So, I do as I usually do in these cases… rush home to ebay!   I was surprised that within 8 minutes of typing in “SMT Switch” into my search I found an absolutely EXACT replacement!  I got 5 (yes FIVE) “”Tactile Push Button Switch Momentary Tact 4x4x1.5mm 4-pin SMD Surface Mount” of these from china for $0.99 + $1.50 shipping.  Can you believe it… five of these shipped from China for $2.49… CRAZY!

I’ve never been great at soldering regular stuff let alone super tiny micro switches.   Compounding the problem, I don’t have a very steady hand.  How in the world would I be able to remove the soldered switch and replace it with a new switch without damaging all the other stuff on the PCB?

I did what I always do in this case and went to YouTube!   Here is a great video I found on desoldering and soldering tiny SMT parts.

Did I mention how small these switches are (next to a quarter)?

I was in the mood to do this right, so I went shopping and got a few extra bits:

1. KESTER951 no clean liquid flux – Used to clean the parts and help ensure good thermal transfer while removing and adding the switches)
2. Illuminated Multipower LED Binohead Magnifier – Totally geeky, but I was amazed at how necessary it was when looking at these super small parts.
3. Push button vacuum solder removing tool – Ok, I already had this part as well as my soldering iron

When I finally had everything together I got to work!  My plan was to practice on some old computer cards (network adapters) that I had kicking around.  I worked on them in an attempt to hone my soldering skills, but my impatience got the best of me.  I hate to admit it, but I’ve really screwed stuff like this up in the past by being impatient.   I quickly learned that I wasn’t going to become a small solder master any time soon, but more importantly I learned that I could possible use my tiny soldering snips to just remove the leads to the switch!

First I cleaned off the switch using the liquid flux and a toothbrush.  I’m REALLY glad I did this since there was some green gunk all over the switch… possibly some kind of greese for the switch put on at the factory?

With my super geekly LED head magnifier on I slightly pried the switch up a super tiny amount using a sharp soldering pick tool.  It was just enough to get my snip in there to clip the leg.   Next I did the other side, and from there I was able to bend the switch up.

Once I had these two legs detached I thought I’d give removing them a try using the soldering iron… and surprisingly it worked great and I didn’t (at least I believed) fried anything in the process!

Here is the board with the switch removed:

The next step was to position the new switch and solder it into place.  This sounded simple enough, but trying to maneuver this tiny thing into the perfect position proved harder than I expected.   Once again I added some flux and after a bit of finagling I was able to get the switch into place.

Using some tape to hold the whole board into place and my finger to hold the switch into place (I figured the threat of burning my finger would help keep my hand a bit more steady with the iron).       Surprisingly, the legs of the new switch soldered down to the board using the previous switches solder without any problem at all… it was almost too easy!

Here are my final results:

I’m VERY pleasant surprised at how it turned out… especially that I didn’t burn myself or destroy the board in my impatience!!

… of course, none of this matters if the thing doesn’t work.   For all I know, any number of things could have gone wrong, including

• Wrong switch type.  Just because it looked like a match maybe wouldn’t guarantee the inside circuitry was the same
• Wrong switch orientation
• Overheated the board or neighbor circuits and fried them
• Broke any of the existing circuit paths or possibly made a bridge circuit
• etc.

Almost holding my breath I put everything back together and pushed the button.  The super perfect tactile response of the brand new button felt fantastic.  The other still functioning original button on the board provided a great contrast between what a new button should feel like!   Next it was out to the car for the real test!

It worked PERFECTLY!   The car unlocked with such response I almost felt like the clicky clicky of my new button was somehow sending the unlock command faster than the original OEM FOB button!   Seriously, I can’t convey how nice the new button feels when depressed.  In fact, it felt so nice that I was tempted to pull out the lock button and replace it too!  Fortunately my sound mind prevailed and the adage “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” came to mind, so I left it alone!

What I did do to satisfy my craving for more fixin’ was to grab my other remote with it’s crappy unlock button and replace it as well.   This one went even smoother and I was able to skip the clipping process and go directly to unsolder all four legs!  This left me with an even cleaner surface with which to work!

So, I’m pretty excited and kinda proud of myself for pulling this off.   This adventure definitely ended up being way more about the process and the “Hey, I fixed this!” than about the money, and I’m really glad I gave this a go!

11 years ago I did what I never thought I’d do… I bought a new car.  I wrote a blog post about my new car purchase calculator and how I made the decision on which car to buy.

Well, I went through a similar (but considerably less detailed) process again recently when buying our new family van.   I still usually hold to my theory that many people shouldn’t be buying new cars because of the depreciation right off the lot.  With that said:

1.    I hold onto cars for 10+ years usually
2.    I buy cars that are usually pretty inexpensive and have good value (see my anal calculations on my Hyundai Elantra 10 years ago: http://www.nifty-stuff.com/hyundai-purchase.php )
3.    I absolutely 100% HATE mechanics and worrying about getting ripped off. I’m willing to pay a premium on a car with a great warranty, even if I have to take it in more often, as long as stuff is covered.  My 2001 Hyundai Elantra I got in 2010 is a great example.  5 year bumper to bumper, 10 year powertrain.   I only had to take it into the dealer a couple of times and everything was covered.  I still have the car 11 years later and it’s still doing GREAT.

Again, I HATE mechanics! I remember a friend who was a retired mechanic said:

“9 out of 10 mechanics are crooked, and the 1 guy that isn’t this time will either go out of business or be forced to be crooked the next time.“

When looking for our new van I only had a handful of manufacturers and models I was looking into.   Since we’ve been VERY happy with our Hyundai Elantra we were initially looking for a Hyundai van.  Turns out they only made the Entourage for a few years and it was basically a Kia van (Kia is owned by Hyundai) branded and made for Hyundai.   So, our final choices were Kia Sedona,  Honda Odessey, and Toyota Sienna.   I ran into the same questions and answers with the Honda’s and Toyota’s that I came across with my car purchase:   These two manufacturers have a great track record, but their price premium reflects this and their warranties are pretty short.   After some basic research we decided to go with the Kia Sedona… better price, more features, and a longer warranty.

The Purchase Process:

I was SUPER tenacious when I purchased our van.   I totally played the game and outlasted their attempts to squeeze me.  I even did the “walk away” game which really changed the tone of the negotiations.

Before I went into the arena with the sales person I had a TON of info on hand, including some great offers from dealers on http://www.carwoo.com/  (basically you put the model, colors, features, etc. into their system and local dealers make you offers).   I was able to use these dealer’s offers, plus all the price research I did at places like Costco, Truecar.com, Edmunds.com, KBB.com, and others as a baseline for negotiations.

I’m not a super negotiator, so I needed to get some basic skills ready before heading into the dealer.  This video helped a lot (and is a fun watch):

Empowered with new negotiation tactics I was ready to go!

We visited about 3 different dealerships in the area trying to find the color, feature, and price combo that we wanted, and nobody had what we were looking for.   I guess all the dealers have some system that tracks where the new inventory is and where it is going.    From what I understand, they can make requests for specific inventory, but it has to be available – and nothing was that even came close to what we wanted.

We were about to give up on the search but then the dealer closest to our house called and said the exact model / color was on their lot.   It either wasn’t in their system or the color was entered wrong in the system which is why nobody knew it was coming.   We told them we’d be over the next day.

My family and I went into the dealer around 10:00 am on a Saturday.   We test drove the car and then started the process.   I gave my number, they said there’s no way they could do that, I held firm, they offered other incentives, trade-in deals, warranty deals, etc., but the total price was still too high.   After 3 hours of this my family’s complaints started getting louder and louder… they were starving for lunch… and this is where things got VERY interesting!

I told the sales person that I had to leave and get my family some food.   The sales person said, “Go ahead and send your family and maybe they can bring you something back?”  Sure I could have sent my wife to get food, but this was my big “walkaway” moment!    She knew if we left there was a very high chance we wouldn’t come back and all those hours were lost.   I said, “No thanks, I’d like to go with them.”

Sales response:  “Ok, how about you take the van and pick something up?”

Obviously if I took the van they knew I’d have to come back, and they’d still have me.   My response, “No thanks, we’ll take our car.”

I could tell that the sales person was starting to get a little panicky:  “Um… how about we go buy lunch for you and bring it back?!?”

Me:  “No thanks, we’re fine to go get it ourselves in our car.”

Sales:  “Ok, but before you go, let me get my sales manager…”

Ugh… here come the big guns!

A large older man came into the office and said, “I understand we’re having a hard time coming together on a price for the van.”

Me:  “Ya, it’s been taking a while so we’re going to go get some lunch.”

Him:  “Ok, what do we have to do to make this deal happen right now?”

… now we were in business!

Here are the stats online for prices:

The baseline price I was shooting for (based on all the various sites mentioned above) was around $26,000.

Here is where we ended up paying for our new van, a Kia Sedona EX:

Two areas where I did something I never expected:

Trade-In:
Based on my research we probably could have privately sold our Mazda 5 for $7,000.   It had some paint damage, cracked window, and some weird issues where the battery would just go dead even though the battery was tested in fine condition.   If I traded it in I’d be leaving $1,000 on the table, but the thought of just being “done” and not having to deal with selling the car and feeling bad about the condition and the person being upset about the purchase felt surprisingly good!

Extended Warranty:
I NEVER buy extended warranties on stuff, but during the multi-hour negotiation with the dealer I gave in to a warranty as part of the larger deal.  The main reason:  over the life of the car the cost for this warranty was negligible and even if it is a false sense of security, it was worth it.  Here’s the warranty I basically paid $1,000 for:

Company: “Motor Warranty Services of North America”
Plan: “Platinum Plan” (basically is suppose to cover pretty much bumper to bumper for 10 years)
Cost: $1,000 (supposedly they try to sell it for $4.5k and online I’ve read if you can get them down to $2k you’ve got a good deal)

I’ve read some horror stories about these warranty companies piling up new accounts and then going bankrupt right before the majority of people start making claims.  Again, I’m not sure how helpful the warranty will be, but for $1k I felt it was worth the gamble and (potentially fake) warm-fuzzies I get from thinking I won’t have to shop for a mechanic for 10 years.

Not including the trade in and taxes, fees, etc., I got the van and the warranty for $25,500  which is $500 under my target price and $2,000 under the “market average”!

So, what do you think?  Did I get a good deal?  Did I go through a decent process?   What’s been you car-buying experience?

In my last post, Cleaning Solar Panels – Does it make much difference, I briefly mentioned the 11 foot telescoping squeegee that I used to clean my solar panels.   Basically the device looked just like this:

For the most part this device  works fine for my needs, but I was very excited to get an email from a reader with some additional feedback and comments!   Here is the first message I received from my friend Richard:

“This mail concerns a window washing brush that you might be interested in – possibly not interested at all.

Last year I bought from Amazon a bottom of the range telescopic window washing brush – extends to 3.0M (ten feet).

Here’s my Amazon Feedback Review…

It arrived about three hours ago and now lays broken in the garden.

On the plus side my conservatory roof is clean and half of my greenhouse roof.

On the downside the big weakness is around the operator handle – firstly the plastic hose pipe union kept falling out – not becoming unscrewed but just pulling out of the threads.  A generous application of PTFE tape helped a bit but not completely.  In an hour’s worth of use I have had to screw it back in three or four times.

That’s the hose end of the operator’s handle.  The join between the handle and the aluminium tube has fallen apart – just pulled out and it will take a “bodge” to get it back together – and I am in two minds about even attempting it.

It works – it’s far from perfect and I am highly suspicious of any rating higher than two stars.

If you buy one try not to hold the operator’s handle when using it – the weight of a 10 foot tube full of water with a brush at the far end places great stress on this piece – the design of the join makes it bound to fail sooner or later.

Caveat Emptor applies…

Well – the conservatory roof needs another clean and I’m reluctant to struggle with my old contraption. I shall make my own!

The traditional design is just about OK for vertical applications but once the operator tries to use it in a horizontal fashion things start to go wrong.

I gave the matter some thought.  Firstly there is no need to have it telescopic – full length at 10 feet and non-collapsible is acceptable for home use.  Secondly there is absolutely no requirement to have the water supply running up a hollow centre (center).  Neither is there an absolute need to have the water delivered through the bristles of the cleaning brush – close to is close enough.

My prototype is almost complete – the boom – a 10 foot plastic waste pipe – flexes a bit too much for my liking so I intend to screw a 2 Metre length of aluminium angle to it as a light-weight stiffener.

If it’s the sort of thing that your followers on nifty-stuff might be interested in I can send a couple of photographs.

West wishes”

 I was able to locate Richard’s device and review on Amazon here.   This device is significantly different from mine in that 1)  It is just a brush and 2) it is water fed.  Usually I hose down my panels, then run the sponge side of my squeegee over them, then hose them off again.   I actually don’t even use the squeegee side.

Well, I love DIY projects and was VERY interested in Richard’s design.   I have mixed feelings regarding the need for the unit to be telescoping / collapsible, but I’ll need to do some tests with my device in the full extended mode to see if having it always at length makes much of a difference.  I emailed back asking for more details and pictures and was excited to receive the following:

“How to make your own long-reach cleaning brush

There are two issues with telescopic, water-fed cleaning brushes.  The inexpensive types are not very robust whilst the good ones cost a fortune. Secondly they can be very difficult to handle when used horizontally – the weight of water in the tube and the fulcrum point where you hold it make it very heavy to lift. And if you’ve bought at the bottom end of the market then you’ll very probably get very wet.

• Take a 3000mm (ten foot) length of plastic waste pipe – about 32mm (1¼”) diameter .
• Fix a relatively small and lightweight cleaning brush to one end.
• Take water to the cleaning brush through a lightweight plastic pipe – the water does not necessarily need to flow through the bristles of the brush.
• Route the water pipe outside the tube and fit an on/off tap in a handy place for operator control – flow rate and on/off.
• The plastic tube will tend to bend so fix a length of aluminium angle to it as a stiffener.
• This contraption does not telescope so it will need to be stored horizontally – against a wall or against the ceiling of a garage.”

Below are the images Richard sent over (plus my squeegee pic that got misplaced into the gallery) .

What do you think about this design?  Any ideas or feedback?

Well, I woke up one morning realizing that there may be a way to really test how cleaning the panels impacts performance!   Our system provides fantastic visibility into how each module is producing.  I can even export second by second output data on each and every module!  My plan was to do the following:

1.    Export all my data to excel for the past 2 weeks
2.    Determine which 4 panels have the closest power output
3.    All the panels are equally dirty, so cleaning a controlled set of 2 should help me see if there is any difference.
4.    Check the results

If I wanted to get really controlled and detailed results I could fine 6 panels:
2 – keep dirty
2 – wash once
2 – wash weekly

Here is how the test went down:

I exported all of my data, (every 15 minutes) over the past 30 days.   I discovered:

• Modules A1 and A2 have only a 0.03% difference from a month’s worth of data!
• Modules A7 and A8 have 0.06% difference!
• A1 and A7 are both in line with one another and easier to reach, so I’ll clean both of them and then clean A1 “more frequently”.

YAY!!!  I LOVE controlled experiments and data!!!

I cleaned the two modules A1 and A7 at the end of day 7/21.   Remember, I’m comparing these two panels to their neighbors A2 and A8

You can see the difference between the cleaned and dirty panels here:

After 2 days:

I took the power output from 2 days before the cleaning  and compared it to the power output after cleaning.

BEFORE:
A2 was 0.3% higher than A1
A7 was 0.4% higher than A8

After:
A1 was 1.2% higher than A2
A7 was 1.1% higher than A8

So if my data and my math are correct, cleaning has resulted in a 1.5% increase in one panel and 0.7% increase in another.

After 7 days:

I took the output from the 35 days before cleaning and compared it to the 7 days after cleaning and here is what I got:

A1 is 1.76% more efficient since cleaning
A7 is 1.33% more efficient since cleaning

I’m not sure how consistent these results will be across time and across each individual module, but it’s pretty interesting to see the results of this controlled experiment.  I don’t know how much this will impact my cleaning behavior.  I suppose that I’ll simply end up spraying them off a couple of times during the summer (more dust and no rain to wash away the dust) and may even use my new telescoping 11 foot pole squeegee  window washing cleaner to really get them clean.

So, what do you think?  Does my process and data look legit?  What would you have done differently?   If cleaning your panels would produce a 1.5% increase in power, how often would you clean them?

I also posted about this endeavor on my site www.SufficientSelf.com in my post here: Cleaning Solar Panels – Will it make much difference?

This is another great contribution from Ken.  You can see his other creations, the Dirt Shaker & Power Barrow and the HomeMade Rotary Trommel Screen.  He’s got an amazing gift and we’re glad he’s willing to share it with us!   From Ken:

I have fun building machines from found objects, right now I’m looking for something to build, as I have several loose engines, including a 3 hp and a 5hp with the 6:1 speed reducer. I have a friend, Rick, who is going to have to move several tons of crushed stone and bedding sand, several hundred wall blocks and 160 paving blocks 40 feet from the front to the back of his house, along a steep 24 inch wide path. His is a narrow lot with no other access. We built a tramway and a trolley that can be winched up the incline, just waiting for him to save up enough to buy the materials, which may mean next spring.

The tram is made of a 2×6 frame about 22″ wide and 5′ long. For the wheels, we dismounted the tires from tractor supply 3×10 wheels, mounted on 5/8″ axles. The rims ride on the top of the rails, which are made of used 2×6 pt lumber standing on edge. At the lower end of the track, we cut one side on a downward slope and fastened the cut wedge to the other rail, so that if the trolley breaks loose, it will be flipped over and not run loose down into traffic. Rick wanted to use a barrier attached to the rails to stop a runaway, I suggested the flip, as a loaded runaway trolley hitting a barrier could damage the rails, rip them apart. The trolley won’t go far on its side.

It really doesn’t require much of either, you just go about it. Surely, for a lot of what you have done, you started with no experience and little practical knowledge on the subject. If you make a false start, or a mistake, consider the cost as tuition, as you have learned something in the process. Even though I have welders and can weld, I lean towards bolted assemblies, so nothing is irrevocable.

I like using used materials, so even if what I build doesn’t work out, there is little money lost, and the time is never lost because of what I learned in the process. When I built the shaker-screener, I moved the oscillator 3 times, looking for the best action. Likewise, the leg positions were changed several times to get the best angle, without having to lift the loaded shovel too high while still getting garden trailers or wheelbarrows under the discharge end.

On the donkey, I had to add the underside counter-shaft to lower the ground speed. That was an afterthought. I found I had to add 40 pounds of dead weight on the front to give the steering wheels enough traction to turn the loaded machine, as there is no differential on the rear driving wheels so the wheels, with chains, had to slip when turning. The first front wheels I used were to big around and would hit the frame as the front axle tipped and rocked on rough ground.

The sprockets I used came from tractor supply, they are flat plates which you have to weld ot their hubs. Rather than weld them, I clamped the hubs and sprockets together, then drilled and tapped them, centering the 2 holes 180 degrees apart on the circumference of the hole in the sprocket, and installed set screws that hold them together and act as keys to transmit the torque. That way, I can dismantle and reconfigure everything with a minimum of fuss.

One thing I should mention is that you should run a mower, preferably mulching, over the leaves to cut them up in little pieces. That will allow any sweeper to pick up about 5 times as much because, uncut leaves don’t pack well, too much air space.

Growing up, my father stressed his belief that “any fool can improve on something.” he also stressed that it was important to take on projects that I knew nothing about, that way I had a chance to learn something new. That way, when you have twenty years of experience, you don’t actually having only one year’s experience twenty times over.

When you have done something, it always seems you see where you could have done it better. That doesn’t mean what you did isn’t good, in product development, you first have to make a product to sell. Then you can make improvements and upgrades. You can’t wait until you have perfected the product, as you will always see ways to make it better. There are times “you have to shoot the engineer and go into production”.

Can you imagine a world where nobody manufactured computers, or any other product, until they were perfected?

As a product development consultant, I only took on projects the client had tried to develop and failed, and preferably in a field I knew nothing about. That way, I had a reason to learn a new discipline and had a chance to improve on the prior art. This approach always worked for me.

I made it a point to change fields every seven to ten years, or sooner if I felt I was just cruising on past accomplishments.

I was fortunate in that I was never in doubt of my ability to make a living, inflated ego, perhaps, but it worked for me and our family.

Back in the 60′s and 70′s, when I worked as a product development consultant, I would have designed a nice integrated machine to market. (I designed and held patents on automotive assembly tools and machines, air tools, including tools for building the manned lunar landers, an ultrasound imager that delivered a polaroid print and negative of 1/4 the cross section of a person or animal and one laser alignment machine that allowed a laser beam to be positioned through two points in space in less than 30 seconds.) All 14 patents were commercially successful, compared to about 1% to 3% of patents, worldwide.)

The patent office only digitized patents back to the mid 70′s, however, my patents have been referenced in newer devices and by searching references, they can be found, at least in an abstracted form.

Frankly, building stuff from found materials is more fun.

As many of my site visitors know, I own/manage a handful of internet forums including:

• The Printer Forum (on this site)
• BackYardChickens.com
• TheEasyGarden.com
• SufficientSelf.com
• BackYardHerds.com

One of the constant problems with managing a forum is dealing with spammers.   Spammers come in many shapes and forms, but here are the two main types:

1. “Spam Bots” -  These are applications/programs that are automated and are usually targeted to the more popular forum software applications.   They can automatically register and post on thousands of internet forums.
2. Human spammers – These are usually people who are trying to promote their own websites and businesses, or work as “SEO” or “Link Building” professionals that register and spam internet discussion groups, forums, blogs, etc.  Often they will outsource and hire people that are $1 – $2 per hour in India, China, Philippines, etc. to sit in a room and spam all day long… 10 hours a day, 6 days a week.

Originally, I was just working to prevent the “Spam Bots” from registering and posting.   Every day or so we’d see a human spammer come in, but it is usually pretty easy to just delete and ban them manually.

Well, that all changed around the first day of the new year 2011.   All of a sudden we started to see a TON more spam… like a factor of 1,000 times more spam.   On BYC, during the “slow months”, we get about 50 new members a day.   Well, during the first 12 hours of one day last week we saw 300+ new registrations.   They hadn’t posted yet, but we knew they were spammers by the totally irrelevant (and often inappropriate) links in their user profile signatures.

After deleting all the spammers, I embarked on a multi-day and very time/energy tense process of beefing up our anti-spam systems!     Below, I’ll list the anti-spam systems we have in place.  These were not deployed or added in this order, but they are listed in the order a spammer needs to go through them to get access to spamming our community.

(Oh, a side note:  The goals with any anti-spam system are to stop or slow down the spammers so they get frustrated and leave BUT also to not block or restrict legitimate users… not always possible, so compromises have to be made)

Lines of defense against forum spammers:

1. “Bad Behavior” - This is a system that blocks known spammers and bots from accessing your site in the first place.   Within 30 minutes of installing it I had blocked 64 access attempts!  A good number of spammers still get through, but this is a great first roadblock.
2. Human Detectors – Sounds very sci-fi, huh?   Undoubtedly you’ve already seen these.  Often they are in the form of a captcha (the image you have to read and type to prove you’re a person).  One of my favorites is ReCaptcha.  In addition to the image to text test, we also have a question and answer that would be almost impossible for a spam-bot to answer.
   These systems stop almost all bots, but are easy for human spammers to get through.
3. Email Verification – Before someone can join the forum, they must submit an email address, receive an email from our system, then validate their email.   This stops a good amount of spam, but the spam-bots and human spammers can get through it easily, especially with the proliferation of free email account systems.
4. Signature Limits -  About 99% of spammers put a spam link in their signature.  This is how they quickly spam the system even without posting.   We implemented a restriction that doesn’t allow new members to create a signature until they are no longer “new”.
5. URL Posting Limits – This has had the biggest impact in stopping spammers, but also has the most “unintended consequences” to legit members.   How it works:  A new member can NOT post any images or links until they are no longer “new”.    We haven’t seen a single spam post since we implemented this system.  Unfortunately we’ve already seen new members get frustrated that they can’t post links and especially pictures.   Fortunately the limitation isn’t too long, but it is a necessary evil.
6. Reports, Great Members, Excellent Moderators -  This final stop-gap is about 100% effective!   It takes our members about 1.4 seconds to start reporting spammy posts.    Not long thereafter one of our amazing moderators deletes and bans the account.   (Side note:  Our members are so good at reporting that we sometimes get hundreds of reports at once.  Because of this we ended up installing a modification that hides reported posts after multiple people report it.  HUGE time saver!)

There are a few more things we could implement to stop or slow down spammers if they start to get through these systems, but the cost to the members begins to be a significant trade-off.    For now I expect the automated systems to stop 99.701% of spam and the members and moderators to easily pick up the rest.

Footnotes:

Why such a huge spike in spam all of a sudden?   Well, check this out:   Of the thousands of spammer accounts that we blocked and/or deleted, most are porn, affiliate sales, virus, buy my stuff online, etc. spam junk.

BUT I saw a handful of legitimate looking businesses.   They had very good .com domain names and a presence online that looked legitimate with a physical location, telephone number, etc.

Well, guess what I did!?   Today I spent a few hours calling a handful of them, told them I own some internet forums that are being spammed with their company name and URL.   I asked if they were outsourcing their SEO / Link building and if they knew that their brand was getting tainted and that they possibly might get put on some internet blacklists.  The replies from most were:

“Yes, we use an SEO / Link building company and we had no idea they were doing this!”

I’m betting that these legit companies think, “Wow, we don’t want to bother with online marketing, so let’s hire it out!”  They find a company or individual that says, “Sure, we’ll build your presence online for CHEAP!” and then they deploy spam-bots and/or hire cheap labor to spam all day long.

One company finally got me routed through 4 people until I got to their head of internet marketing.   He said they purchase “link packs” off the internet that show “high quality” sites on which they can promote their products.    They then have contractors “participate” on these forums and promote their stuff.

So, it’s a pretty crazy spam war out there!  Unfortunately there are some legitimate companies that are paying “professionals” to market their sites, but those professionals are just turning around and using “black-hat” spamming systems and processes.

Have you had a problem with spam on any of your blogs, sites, etc?   What has, or hasn’t worked for you?   Have you ever been flagged or blocked as a spammer?   As a user, how do you feel about all these anti-spam systems that directly or indirectly affect you?

One of the community members on BYC posted a topic called “upside down fire building for wood heat“.    I read through the thread and was pretty surprised by the claims:

It is better to build your fire upside down:  Put the paper on top, then kindling under that, then the bigger wood at the bottom.

Seemed pretty crazy to me… I mean, HEAT RISES, right?   When I’m lighting fireworks candles I always try to put the fuse wick above the flame.  I figured this is the same thing you do with fires.   Start it burning at the bottom, let the flames (which rise up) lick the wood above and “I HAVE MADE FIRE!”

So I did some research, and it turns out that there are plenty of believers in this “Build your fire upside down” movement.  You’d think after all those years at Scout Camp, receiving the Firem’n Chit card, and becoming an Eagle Scout, that I’d be fully aware of any and all possible ways to effectively start a fire, right… RIGHT!?!?  Well, in all my research I learned that while heat does in fact rise, the heat radiating from a fire is what really gets things cooking, and since heat radiation flows in all directions, it doesn’t matter that each subsequent layer of fuel being ignited is below the one burning.

Ok, so it is an interesting idea, but “so what”?   Well, here are the reasons why many have converted to this new way of starting fires:

1. As the kindling burns in a traditional setup the wood collapses on itself and can have a smothering affect on the fire.  Also, you don’t have the issues with your perfect teepee / log cabin shifting all over the place as the pieces burn and the structure crumbles.
2. You don’t have to keep tending the fire, moving pieces around, adding larger pieces, etc.  You should be able to “set it and forget it” (ok, never do that with a fire)… er, light the fire and not have to “tend” it so much for at least a few hours.
3. Upside down fires will tend to start with less smoke than a standard fire setup.
4. It is a very consistent method for starting a fire.

Well, being a lover of experimentation and trying new things, I decided I had to give it a go!

In an effort to do an apples to apples comparison, I did the following:   Tonight I built a fire with the exact same materials and quantity that I usually use when I’m doing the “standard” fire building process.  Usually my “standard” setup is a modified “teepee” or “log cabin” with paper on the bottom, then some cardboard, add kindling, then larger wood on top.   With my “upside down” configuration, here is the order of materials (from bottom up):

• Two large splits of eucalyptus
• Two medium sized, super old / dry 4×4 lumber pieces
• A bunch of old redwood 1 x 12 pieces split to about 1×2
• A bunch of the same, but split about 1/2 x 2
• Some corrugated cardboard
• Misc. newspaper etc.

Here are some progression pictures of the setup:

Two large splits with the old 4×4 on top

Added the rest of the kindling

Added cardboard, paper, and some dryer lint (stuff lights up SUPER easy)

A single light to the “dryer lint” and within minutes things are looking really good!  During each “stage” the radiant heat lights the “stage” below the first.  Also the burnt pieces fall as they burn and help to ignite the pieces below them.
Here is the fire only two minutes after being lit:

About 15 minutes into the burn and I’m very impressed!  The kindling has taken really well and it looks like the 4×4′s are about to take too!


Approximately 35 minutes into the burn and the 4×4′s are engulfed in flame and starting the large splits!

50 minutes into the burn:

Almost 2 hours after ignition I’ve got some great looking coals!

Well, I’m converted to this new way of starting fires!!

I couldn’t find any cons to starting the fire this way.  The only thing I noticed is that the fire didn’t seem to start up and heat up as quickly as my standard method.    Honestly, it wasn’t really an issue and I figured it could be a function of a bunch of factors like fuel, configuration, air intake, etc.    I plan on doing more experimenting with less kindling, different configurations of the wood, and other factors.   I’d be pretty impressed if I can start a super good fire with less kindling than I’ve been doing up to this point.

By far, all the pros listed in the beginning of this post are spot-on, and I’m definitely starting all my fires with this new configuration!   Please give it a try and report back with what happened!

A while back one of our printer forum members submitted the article  “Canon i960 Printer Cover & Base Removal”.  Another one of our community members, wfmcg, replied that he had created a Canon i960 teardown document with pics.  I asked if he’d be willing to send it to me, and did.   I was impressed and asked permission to post, so here it is:

Canon i960 Waste Ink Tank Pad Replacement

Important!: First Please read this note at the bottom of the pagebefore starting.

To start the tear down, observe unit for any tab release holes.

Figure 1

In this demonstration, notice that I have removed the print head.This was because the pigmented black had become badly clogged.While I was soaking it in a shallow bath of 50% Clear Ammonia and 50% Distilled Water for a couple of days, I decided to clean out the wastetank absorbent pads.While I went through the shut down procedure, which parked the print head carrier,It would be easier to unplug the printer while the carrier is still in the middle, at the“change ink cartridge” position. That way you will have more room to remove thesquare “stone” below the print head for cleaning.You can see the square stone with the ink still in it in figure 22,while in figure 20 you can see it after it’s been cleaned.(I had to re-take figure 20 for clarity.)

Figure 2

Notice the two release slots. One on right side and one on right rear.Use thin screwdriver to push in locking fingers.

Figure 3

Two release slots on left side, front and rear.

Figure 4

While we’re back here remove paper jam door.

Figure 5

Two more release slots. One on the left front and one behind the start button console.

Figure 6

Remove the two screws from the start button console.

Figure 7

I like to replace the screws into their sockets so they don’t get lost.

Figure 8

Next, gently  remove the multi-wire connector.

Figure 9

After releasing all the locking fingers, gently remove the top.

Now push on the small locking fingers in the top of the spreader bar and remove.

Figure 10

Set the spreader aside in a safe place. 
Figure 11

Remove the now loose USB cover plate. 
Figure 12

Flip unit over, being extremely careful not to damage the mylar location disc and location strip.Use flat screwdriver to release power supply locking clip.

Figure 13

Pop up right side and pull to the right.

Figure 14

Flip power supply over and gently unplug multi-wire connector.

Figure 15

If desired, the lower paper tray may be removed with these four screws.

Figure 16

Find the diagnostic connector in a well at the rear of the bottom of the base.

Figure 17

Use a small screwdriver to push in on the clips and push through hole in base.

Figure 18

Remove left rear interior mount screw

Figure 19

Remove right rear interior mount screw

Figure 20

Remove right front mount screwLeave clip attached to base for now.

Figure 21

I like to leave myself notes as to the location and sizes or lengths of the screws I have removed.  Notice the yellow letters. s=short, l=long, sm=short machine thread.

Figure 22

Later when removing clip from base, note screw location.

Figure 23

As you lift out printer carriage assembly from the base, the paper guiding fingerswant to fall out. Note the direction of the fingers and how they are clippedon to the base, so you can reinstall them properly.

Figure 24

Remove mounting clip from base by removing screw shown earlier andput in a safe place.

Figure 25

We have now arrived at the waste ink (tank) absorbent pads.Notice the pads directly below the print head parked position are the most saturated.

Figure 26

With the top pad removed you can see the amount of ink the lower pad has accumulated.

Figure 27

Remove the pads for replacement or cleaning.

Figure 28

There are two pads below where the print head parks.Notice the different texture on one side of the pads.The cloth-like side of the pads goes down on the bottom pad,and up on the top pad.

Figure 29

Again, remove the pads for replacement or cleaning.Seeing as this printer has been discontinued by Canon, cleaning is probably youronly option.   When cleaning the pads, it becomes necessary to squeeze out the water at some point.This squeezing causes the pads to compress to about half their thickness. So when you reinstall them they do not fill to the same height as before. I have found this not to be a problem. As they fill up with ink again, they expand as they suck up the ink, albeit not completely to their pre-washed thickness.It has been suggested not to squeeze out the pads, but to just let them drip dry fora few days. Although I have not tried this yet, it might be the better option.

Figure 30

Important !!! A note of caution here !!!When handling the printer carriage, be very careful of the Mylar location disc on the left of the carriage and the Mylar location strip (Yellow Arrows) running along the back of the print head carriage.Please DO NOT DAMAGE THESE. When lifting printer carriage out of base, use the tabs (Red Arrows) to do the lifting.   As Usual reassemble in reverse order.

This is the second part in my story of installing a solar photovoltaic system in the Northern California Bay Area.  You can also read Part 1, Solar Panels / Energy. 

I figure the best way to organize what happened is to do a timeline from the very beginning:

4/1/2010: Contract with REC Solar signed.  The process is:

• REC does a site evaluation
• REC pulls permits
• I go with REC to Costco to purchase modules & inverter
• Roof Right removes old roof and installs plywood and underlayment
• REC installs the roof mounts for the rails
• Roof Right installs the rest of the roof
• REC installs modules, inverter, and all electrical
• REC coordinates city inspection
• REC submits all the info to PG&E
• PG&E does interconnection
• I turn the system on!

The whole process is expected to take 14 weeks which includes the 3 weeks for the PG&E interconnection.  So, that would be a completion date of mid July.

4/13/2010: REC sends out their crew to do a site evaluation.  This includes getting the roof measurements (dimensions, pitch, direction etc.) and the shade analysis.

They have a cool device that takes a “fishbowl” image of the sky from various points on the roof to show what items will cast a shadow onto the roof (click the image to the right).  We discover that the chimney and two big oak trees will be casting significant shadows onto the roof.   Not much we can do about the chimney other than shift around the modules a little.  The trees will either need to come out or be significantly “topped”.

Note:  In the shade image the engineers highlight in green the areas that will cast a shadow.  Items that will be removed (trees) are not highlighted.  The system then uses the data to calculate how much sun that particular spot on the roof will receive during which hours of the day and months of the year!  Really cool!

5/4/2010: The REC sales manager and I meet up at Costco and make the biggest purchase I’ve ever made at Costco or put on a credit card, $12,800!  I’m now the owner (at least on paper) of 18 solar panels and an inverter.

5/11/2010: REC also sent me the following that shows where the trees need to be trimmed and how much difference having no shade will make in the electricity production.

Based on the calculation, we lose 15% output (most during the Winter) due to the shade from these trees.  You can see how significantly we need to cut back these trees to remove the shade.  Both of the trees are “wild” (meaning nobody planted them there… well, maybe squirrels) and even though they are pushing up against the foundation we’re not sure we want to take them out.

After a lot of back and forth we decide against taking the trees out.  Every person I talked to said that you shouldn’t top oak trees.  We decided it was “better” for the trees to have them topped than 100% removed.    We had a great arborist come out and, even though against his better judgment, he “trimmed” the trees.   While very aggressive, they actually turned out pretty nice.

5/6/2010: Roof Right comes out to redo the part of the roof where the panels will be installed (we’re only getting that section replaced).  They do the tear off, lay the plywood, and the pretty blue underlayment.   I have them install 4 new “eyebrow vents” in preparation for a whole house fan that I eventually will install.  I also have them cut out two 10 inch holes for adding sweet new tubular skylights that I got at Costco for $150 each!   I also had to move the vent for our hot water heater up and to the West to get it as far from the modules as possible so it wouldn’t be in the way or cast a shadow.

5/7/2010: REC sends out their guys to install the roof mounts.  I had previously requested extra tall “standoffs” be used.   I wanted these for 2 reasons:  1)  For clearance above the eyebrow vents.  2)  For extra air movement below the modules (which lose performance as they get hotter).

While they were here, the REC guys took new shade measurement pics and everything looks good… except the big ol’ chimney.   I’m still bothered that the chimney is casting such a significant shadow on a couple of panels in the early morning.   I draw up my own plan for module placement and send it to the engineers.  Basically I moved one panel up to the top row and shifted parts of the array to the West (away from the chimney).  Turns out that one of the big factors for the way they layout the array is symmetry.   I said, “Hey, these are on the back side of the house so I’m not really worried about them being symmetrical.”  The engineers said, “No problem, we’ll go with your layout.”   Guess what… this change was expected to net me an extra couple percent increase in output!

At the end of the day the Roof Right team comes out and completes their roof work and flashes in the roof mounts and even install my tubular skylight flashing for me!  I think it all looks absolutely fantastic!   Click the picture to the right and you’ll see the new roof compared to the crumbly Terrashake / Cal-Shake roofing.

5/11/2010: We were hoping to begin the install today, but REC ran into some problems with TIGO and their supply of the management units that attach to each module.  I’m told there could be up to a 2-3 week delay before we can install the modules.   While I’m a little bummed, I realize that we’re way ahead of the 14 week schedule I was originally expecting.   I start thinking that either the 13 week schedule was a case of “under promise, over deliver” or that somehow things just went way faster than they expected?

5/18/2010: I get some great news about 6 days later that the units are in and we’re ready to go!  The team comes out and begins installing the rails and getting everything ready for the inverter and tie-in to the main electrical service box.

5/19/2010: The team comes back and installs 17 of the 18 modules (the one on the bottom of the stack shattered during travel).  The inverter and most of the electrical is installed!

They look absolutely fantastic and I’m super excited!

Click for larger images

5/21/2010: The team comes back out and installs the last module and finishes a few other items.

This is where things get a bit sticky:  While working to tie into the main service box we found that there were some electrical problems that had the potential to be a huge problem (and expense).   We were looking at having to replace and relocate the main service.  This would also require that the main line coming into the house to be moved and more roof work.  We’re talking potentially $5,000+ more work, permits and months of delays!!!!  Well, long story short, after 2 weeks working with 3 electricians and scouring the world for a few specific old parts and a TON of extra time and work from an amazing guy at REC, we were able to get the problem solved for under $200!  I seriously dodged a bullet!

6/7/2010: The city inspector comes by and meets with the rep from REC and walks the grounds.  I’m terribly nervous and am crossing my fingers that there aren’t any problems.   After only about 15 minutes the inspector is gone and I get the great news:  We Passed!   WOOT!

6/7/2010: All the paperwork is then submitted to PG&E for them to do the interconnection.  Even though my system is 100% ready to go, we need to get their stamp of approval to pull the switch.   PG&E has up to 30 days to do their inspection and the interconnection.  Rumor has it that they are taking up to 3 weeks to get out to do the interconnection.   UGH… it feels like “HURRY UP and wait.”

6/16/2010: It’s 9:50 AM and I’m loading the kids in the car for their very first day of swim lessons.   As we’re about to pull out of the driveway I see a PG&E truck driving up the street.   Can this be it?!?!  I send my wife off with the kids so I can stick around.    The truck parks in front of the house and out comes a guy with a new bi-directional meter in his hand… I swear he looked just like Santa Claus!  Within 15 minutes he had pulled the old meter, installed the new one, and gave me the A-OK to pull the switch.  WOOOT!!  9 Days?   I think this is a new record for PG&E interconnection!

Right after he was gone I turned on the power.  After what seemed like FOREVER the inverter kicked on and I was live!  The new bi-directional meter started at 00000.   I sat there and watched it until I saw it roll back to 99999. 

Summing up:  from contract signing to full interconnection was 76 days (almost 11 weeks) which put us about 1 month ahead of schedule… and that’s with the extra 2-3 weeks of problems related to the electric service issue.

You can click the image below for a high resolution picture of the final installation.  Also I’m including an image of the TIGO interface to show the cool visibility I have into the performance of each solar panel.

We’re using about 20-24 kilowatt hours per day and generating about 25.  At the time of writing this our meter says 99954 and has been as low as 99946.   We didn’t build the system to completely offset our usage, but that’s just what happens during ideal conditions during the summer months.   Our “credit” will carry forward month to month.  As the days get shorter we’ll be producing less than we use, and over the course of the year the credits that we’ve banked up over the summer will be used up.  We don’t expect that we’ll ever produce more in a year than we’ll use unless we totally change our habits… and with our daughters getting older I doubt that’s going to happen.

Hopefully you found this information helpful.   If you’re interested in solar you should contact REC Solar and tell them Rob Ludlow sent you! Even if you’re not in the California San Francisco Bay Area, they may be servicing your area or have partners that do!

Any questions, simply comment below.

VERY long story short: We’re getting a 3.9 kw (DC) solar photovoltaic system installed on our house that should have a “payback” of 8 – 10 years.

Now, all the sordid details: 

Why we need / want solar: I posted earlier about how we’ve been looking for ways to save electricity.  Unfortunately we’ve hit the point of diminishing returns for conservation without significantly changing our lifestyle.   We realized that changing consumption would only get us so far… we needed to begin production!

My Solar Love Affair Begins: I’ve always been fascinated by solar power.  As a kid I loved electronics and did weekly bike rides to Radio Shack to spend all my money on motors, LEDs, etc.  I remember getting my first solar powered calculator and falling in love from that day forward.  I was so enthralled with power from the sun that for my high school “Senior Project” I chose to write about solar energy (thermal and photovoltaics).

Fast forward to 2010: A few entrepreneur friends and I went to a “green” networking event and the place was full of solar companies.  I thought I’d pass by and hear their sales pitch.  One of the more aggressive companies was able to get me to fill out a “free consultation” card… a few days later I had a voicemail for an appointment.  I was honestly dreading the meeting.  I always thought solar energy for the house would be cool, but wasn’t really considering adding residential solar power to our home because:

1. Our roof has about 5 years of life left.  No sense in getting solar installed only to to have it removed and reinstalled in 5 years when the roof needs to be replaced.
2. I heard that the “solar break even” or “solar payback” periods were 12 – 15 years.
3. We’re not sure we are going to stay in our current house long term.
4. I kept thinking “Solar tech will just get more efficient and cheaper, so I’ll wait.”

Well, I figured I’d have the solar sales guy come by to do his song and dance.   During the appointment the most interesting things I leaned:

1. The goal of a solar install (at least in the California Bay Area)  isn’t to remove your need to be “tied to the grid” but to remove you from the top tiers of electricity prices.  For example, if you use 200% of your “baseline” you get charged $0.50 a killowatt hour!!  NOTE:  If you are tied to the grid (and you probably will be unless you want to spend $20k more on a battery system) it is required that the grid be powered for your inverter to function.   That means if the grid goes down at noon then your inverter turns off and your panels, even with full sun, will not produce a single watt of power.  A bummer for sure because if the power company is down for 3 days, you will be too, even with a 4k watt power plant on your roof.
2. Based on the above, if you use a lot of electricity (like we do) then your break even happens much quicker.  We average about $160 a month just in electricity (about 30 kwh/day). I’ve been told you should be at about $80+ a month if you are thinking about solar for mostly monetary reasons.
3. We could just replace the roof section where the solar array would go and leave the rest of the roof for replacement down the road.
4. Rebates and Credits:   There is a 30% Federal Tax Credit of on a solar system install and California State “Go Solar” rebate of $1.10 per watt installed.
5. The CA rebate was VERY CLOSE to dropping down to the lower “step” of $0.65 within a couple weeks, so if we wanted to do solar, now was the time to do it.   Going from $1.10 to $0.65 would be an opportunity cost of potentially $1,755 (3900 x $0.45).

After really thinking about the items above, we realized that we’d probably stick around in the house we’re in and that it financially made sense for us to get solar and to take advantage of the great rebates and credits.

Our final decision process was  as follows:

1.    Does solar make sense financially?  Fortunately this was pretty much already resolved.  I got in touch with a few people that have had solar for up to 3 years and all were very happy with the ROI and the efficiency of their systems / cost savings.
2.    Which panel manufacturer?  The manufacturer of our previous roofing material went bankrupt so we’re kinda sensitive to making sure the panels be covered by a solid manufacturing company.
3.    Which installer?:  I wasn’t about to sign a contract with the first company that came by (and he really was pushing us to do so).  I ended up getting a bunch of referrals and  read a bunch of reviews to narrow the ton of California based solar companies down to a handful.

Solar Company Competition: Below are the companies that did on-site evaluations (in alpha order).

• Akeena Solar
• REC Solar
• SunLightAndPower
• Super Solar
• The Solar Company

Each company had pretty good presentations.  In fact, I ran into a problem I didn’t expect:  Each company had glowing reviews and a really good value proposition.  After an extensive amount of research I had narrowed the list down to three companies: REC Solar, SunLightAndPower, & Super Solar.

SunLightAndPower: A large, well known, reputable company in the SF Bay Area.  They have many installs under their belts and the sales rep was extremely helpful and knowledgeable.  Their price was the highest of the group, but I felt like there was great value in working with a large company.

Super Solar: Owned by a former employee of SunLightAndPower who had been one of their top installers for about 10 years.  They are just a few person company which meant low overhead and a low price.   Unfortunately, I just couldn’t get past the fear of working with a small company.

REC Solar: Actually this company wasn’t even on my original list.  I was literally about to choose (that night) between SunLight&Power and SuperSolar when I was referred to REC Solar from a really smart guy I met online.  I found that REC Solar was the company that was partnered with Costco, so I thought I’d give them a quick chance to throw their hat into the ring.   They are a good sized company with a great reputation. The sales rep was amazing to work with, and the proposal was very impressive and competitive with the others I received.  Oh, and they were the only company on my short list that was willing to guarantee the  CA Rebate at $1.10 even if the application for my array didn’t make the cut before the drop down to $0.65!

In case you can’t tell, I ended up choosing REC Solar

Why REC Solar? Here are some of the highlights of why I want with REC Solar (Renewable Energy Concepts):

• Large company with a ton of installs under their belt
• Partners with Costco
• Very knowledgeable and friendly sales rep and engineering staff
• Guaranteed CA Rebate before the price drop
• Turn key installation.  They do everything including permitting with the city, etc.
• Availability of the TIGO Energy optimizer (up to 20% more energy from the array and a cool online monitoring system)
• Price per watt installed was very competitive with the competition

The system details:

• 3,960 Watts DC (3,295 Watts AC) Solar Electric System that would require about 323 sq/ft.
• Estimated 6,378 kilowatt hours produced per year (we use about 9,500 per year)
• 18 – REC220AE-US solar panels / modules (This REC is “Renewable Energy Corporation”)  + 25 year warranty
• SMA 3000US Inverter
• Tigo system components
• All labor + 10 year warranty

System Grand Total: $23,800

CA Rebate:  $3,440 (estimate based on shading, etc.)
Costco Member Savings $233.60
Costco American Express Savings $116.80
Federal Tax Credit $6,108.00

Net System Cost $13,901.60

Note: This “net cost” doesn’t include the new roof section ($2,400) or the tree trimming ($600).

Our “payback” or “break even” is estimated to be 8 years, and is calculated based on our current usage and a 6% annual utility rate increase.  I personally believe 6% is too aggressive, but this is the % that all the solar companies use.   Obviously the payback time gets longer or shorter if our kilowatt usage changes (3 girl household) and/or if our electricity rates change.

Another way I calculated the financial aspect of the panels is by setting it up like an annuity.

System cost: $13,900
Periods: 300 (25 year life expectancy)
Future value: $0.00 (assuming worst case that the panels aren’t worth anything after 25 years)
PMT: -100  (we expect to save at least $100 per month in electrical bills)

Based on the above, the annualized rate of return on this system is 7.2% using the “RATE” calculation in Excel.  Keep in mind that this is POST TAX MONEY, so when comparing it to another “investment” you’d need to add your tax rate.  So, if I’m in a 30% tax bracket my comparable rate would be more like 9.36%!  Compared to other investments (especially at 9%) I think solar panels also have  much lower financial risk.

When I asked my REC Solar sales rep about which of my friends would and wouldn’t be good candidates for solar he replied:

“Realistically, the cutoff for a decent ROI with PV is going to be around $80 per month.  There are infinite reasons to go solar that are not directly related to immediate payback and ROI (increased value of home, hedge against the rising cost of power, property tax exempt investment, very safe and stable part of an investment portfolio (think CD’s but with a higher ROI),  and an inflation beating investment) but the reality is the ROI would probably be around 4%-7% (not that bad!).

Also, one day the Plug-in hybrid vehicle, or all electric vehicle will be a reality, which will change the PV industry forever as people will see the value in creating their own “gasoline” for their cars with solar.

There’s also the little part about not buying power from fossil fuel burning sources.  Unfortunately at this point, there is not much of a monetary value associated with this (though there should be since the environmental effects do COST money).”

I couldn’t agree more!  In addition to the financial reasons to “go solar” I personally put a lot of weight into:

• The fun and cool factor of having your house powered by the sun
• The warm fuzzies knowing you’re doing your part to reduce your carbon footprint
• The joy of fully meeting up with your childhood love for solar!

The panels should be installed this month.  I’ll post part 2 with all the installation details when the solar juice is flowing.

Have you thought about getting solar installed?  Why or why not?  Post your thoughts below.   Oh, and if you’re thinking about getting solar, give REC a call and tell them Rob Ludlow sent you! 

(For part 2, see: Solar Power Installation California Bay Area – Part 2 )