SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Soylent [food replacement] founder Rob Rhinehart shares his thoughts on extreme sustainability.
I am electrically self-reliant. My home life runs comfortably on a single 100W solar panel, which cost $150 and was available on Amazon Prime. I tracked down a few manufacturers in China who all said it costs around $40 to make. The US for some reason leverages massive tariffs on Chinese solar panels, so they ship them through Malaysian customs. Why do the politicians even bother?
For storage a $65 lead acid automobile battery does the trick. It's 12V so can be charged directly from the solar panel, and holds 420Wh, way more than I use in a day. That's $0.15 / Wh so I don't see why everyone is so excited about Tesla charging $0.43 / Wh for the Powerwall, sans inverter and installation.
He got rid of his fridge and other kitchen implements to make it work. What are the biggest energy users in your place? Could you pare things down as much as Rob?
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday August 05 2015, @12:45AM
There's method to his madness: create awarness and help him sell his meal replacement.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 05 2015, @08:30AM
And sadly it's working, we all just heard about this guy and what he peddles... clickbait ftw!
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday August 05 2015, @09:15AM
There's a meta point to be made here--nearly all of the media information-verse has devolved to one big PR exercise, anyway, so what's the difference? How many of the "science" articles out there are calculated to help secure research grants? How many of the "innovation" stories are companies looking for investors? How many of the, "Gasp, leafy green vegetables can be bad for you?!" articles are funded by the fast food lobby?
I have never worked in the PR industry, but I did work in the Advertising industry which is sliding into PR, and the degree to which the public discourse is structured and manipulated is quite unguessed at by most people. There are hordes of smart, manipulative, greasy hucksters who spent all day, every day, trying to figure out how to draw your attention and get you to spend money. And it works, even with "intelligent" people who ought to know better, because they communicate on a limbic level that overrides higher brain functions.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday August 05 2015, @10:31AM
I may have a defective limbic system, which reflects on the tightness of my ass., leading to difficulties in coughing money.
(grin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford