(This looked like an advertisement for the first view, but - IMO - turned out as a nice review of the trend and a political commentary on top of it)
The balcony solar movement is running hot in Germany, and now it is spreading into the US like gangbusters, just in time for US President Donald Trump’s war in Iran to send the cost of coal through the roof alongside oil and natural gas.
(This looked like an advertisement for the first view, but - IMO - turned out as a nice review of the trend and a political commentary on top of it)
In the United States, the primary impediment to the adoption of wonderful technologies like this tends to be your average HOA. They are given absurd amounts of power to “ensure the character of...
In the United States, the primary impediment to the adoption of wonderful technologies like this tends to be your average HOA. They are given absurd amounts of power to “ensure the character of the neighborhood“ in the US, up to and including being able to fine you for infractions, have you imprisoned or evicted for not paying said fines, and even seize your home and sell it out from under you to recoup the cost of the fines. Most don’t have this leeway but too many do.
This is addressed in the article. The laws going through state legislatures allowing for balcony solar also address HOA concerns
This is addressed in the article. The laws going through state legislatures allowing for balcony solar also address HOA concerns
Both of those obstacles are beginning to crumble, with Illinois providing the latest example. The state legislature is currently considering Senate Bill 3104, a proposal to remove the state’s existing pre-authorization requirement and replace it with a simple form notifying the utility company of the installation. The bill would also prohibit any other fees or installation expenses, and it would prevent property owners and homeowner associations from raising unreasonable obstacles of their own.
I skimmed the article and missed that, thanks for pointing it out. I wish we'd do something about HOA on a federal level, maybe force them to clear everything with HUD or something.
I skimmed the article and missed that, thanks for pointing it out. I wish we'd do something about HOA on a federal level, maybe force them to clear everything with HUD or something.
This got me curious about how many US homes are in an HOA (more than I thought), and I stumbled into an example of the problems with AI search query summaries (on Duck Duck Go, in this case): I...
the primary impediment to the adoption of wonderful technologies like this tends to be your average HOA.
This got me curious about how many US homes are in an HOA (more than I thought), and I stumbled into an example of the problems with AI search query summaries (on Duck Duck Go, in this case):
I asked how many US houses are in HOAs and it specifically said 33 million, but when I followed the source it linked there were details which the summary skipped over. It said it was about 60% of the 33 million (the HOA portion of 'cooperative' living arrangements, which includes condos and whatnot).
I don’t let the AI summarize for me very often, only if a lot of articles turn up and their preview blurbs seem to be all saying the same or similar… But yes, HOAs and their obsessions are a relic...
I don’t let the AI summarize for me very often, only if a lot of articles turn up and their preview blurbs seem to be all saying the same or similar…
But yes, HOAs and their obsessions are a relic of a bygone era and should be abolished, or made voluntary, or made severely limited in the scope of their authority.
I don’t know which model DuckDuckGo uses, but I still check the sources it cites. If I ever saw something like that in there I’d have to go and properly research.
I don’t know which model DuckDuckGo uses, but I still check the sources it cites. If I ever saw something like that in there I’d have to go and properly research.
Anybody running one of these systems? I guess in the simplest setup you just need a couple panels and an inverter right? Like $200 per 100w panel, maybe $200 for a cheap inverter? What do your...
Anybody running one of these systems? I guess in the simplest setup you just need a couple panels and an inverter right? Like $200 per 100w panel, maybe $200 for a cheap inverter? What do your generation numbers look like?
This can become really big, as it's cheap, fast and, most importantly, can be installed without a technician. Thus, it's not bottlenecked by a lack of technician man hours.
This can become really big, as it's cheap, fast and, most importantly, can be installed without a technician. Thus, it's not bottlenecked by a lack of technician man hours.
Very interesting, but that part about the epstein files being the reason for the iran war felt very out of place. Makes me take the source quite a bit less seriously.
Very interesting, but that part about the epstein files being the reason for the iran war felt very out of place. Makes me take the source quite a bit less seriously.
(This looked like an advertisement for the first view, but - IMO - turned out as a nice review of the trend and a political commentary on top of it)
In the United States, the primary impediment to the adoption of wonderful technologies like this tends to be your average HOA. They are given absurd amounts of power to “ensure the character of the neighborhood“ in the US, up to and including being able to fine you for infractions, have you imprisoned or evicted for not paying said fines, and even seize your home and sell it out from under you to recoup the cost of the fines. Most don’t have this leeway but too many do.
This is addressed in the article. The laws going through state legislatures allowing for balcony solar also address HOA concerns
I skimmed the article and missed that, thanks for pointing it out. I wish we'd do something about HOA on a federal level, maybe force them to clear everything with HUD or something.
This got me curious about how many US homes are in an HOA (more than I thought), and I stumbled into an example of the problems with AI search query summaries (on Duck Duck Go, in this case):
I asked how many US houses are in HOAs and it specifically said 33 million, but when I followed the source it linked there were details which the summary skipped over. It said it was about 60% of the 33 million (the HOA portion of 'cooperative' living arrangements, which includes condos and whatnot).
source
also, fuck HOAs
I don’t let the AI summarize for me very often, only if a lot of articles turn up and their preview blurbs seem to be all saying the same or similar…
But yes, HOAs and their obsessions are a relic of a bygone era and should be abolished, or made voluntary, or made severely limited in the scope of their authority.
I stopped trusting Claude to find random facts for me without grilling it when I realized that it was regularly citing grokipedia.
I don’t know which model DuckDuckGo uses, but I still check the sources it cites. If I ever saw something like that in there I’d have to go and properly research.
Anybody running one of these systems? I guess in the simplest setup you just need a couple panels and an inverter right? Like $200 per 100w panel, maybe $200 for a cheap inverter? What do your generation numbers look like?
This can become really big, as it's cheap, fast and, most importantly, can be installed without a technician. Thus, it's not bottlenecked by a lack of technician man hours.
Very interesting, but that part about the epstein files being the reason for the iran war felt very out of place. Makes me take the source quite a bit less seriously.