Dana Wow, could not have said it better. Preppers are notoriously cheap, think they know it all and can power their homes / lives with a few panels and batteries.
peter ----- Original Message ----- From: Dana To: 'RE-wrenches' Sent: Monday, October 26, 2015 11:25 AM Subject: [RE-wrenches] Preppers - Fears sells perspective Hey All (esp. you all newer to the solar field & not well versed in battery systems - 'Been quietly sitting this last discussion out on equipment on battery backup & Peppers'. I know there are a lot of designer/installer getting into batteries for the first time and a lot of their experience is based in the grid intertie start in the solar field. I have the overall experience (since '88) that managing the expectations of what a battery based system will and will not do. The obvious are electric stoves, heat, & water devices and let's add electric cars to that list now too. That said, battery system design is completely another field from the grid tie market. Whether the Sh#$%^t hits the fan or not doing your job with integrity and thoroughness is critical. Life goes on and in a few years they are going to sitting there with a pile of equipment that if it was not correctly sized could affect your reputation which will still be on the line, and believe me you will hear from these folks. This ain't the hook it up & walk away market, they will require more care that you are used to applying to a GT client. I have to stress that doing the numbers and a really accurate load evaluation, looking at short and long term expectations, & best case / worst case scenarios is a really safe place to start. If you cannot verify your design with good math and meet their requests do not go there. If they cannot afford their evaluation DONOT cheap it down, Walk away - Fear sells and some of these folks are running so deep in fear it is almost a comedy if it were not so sad. You need to look beyond the short term profit and look at your reputation down the road. Another item - These folks take a lot of your energy in all their "what if" scenarios. Have them list (in writing & keep this in their file) what is critical to them. They tend to change their minds as they peruse the internet & talk with the like minded crew. If they shift have them put their change in request in writing again. What you started out designing may turn 180° in a night. Get equipment paid for in advance period. Be careful with credit card purchases on big systems, I know of folks that are counting on the credit card system crashing and are racking up huge purchase counting on the crash. I had someone offer half price on a system in Gold bars as "it is going to more than triple" right, I am not going there personally. I have visited with folks now long gone that their parents were getting ready for the same end of society stuff 50-60 years ago & then there were the atomic fallout shelters, & then Y2K. I got offered an entire 18 wheeler of freeze dried food after Y2K. My body shudders to think what that would do to your digestive track. Been there & done that - I spent "88 to "95 of my solar career doing just this. It takes a lot out of you. Best to you all In joy & Keep on putting the sun to work. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dana Orzel Great Solar Works, Inc - NABCEP # 051112-136 E - d...@solarwork.com - Web - solarwork.com O - 970.626.5253 C - 208.721.7003 "Responsible Technologies for Responsible People since 1988" P Please consider the environment before printing this email. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change listserver email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out or update participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
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