DIY Home Solar System for under $5000 (2025) | Hacker News Reader

DIY Home Solar System for under $5000 (2025)

gavinmai.com

40 pointsgmaijoe16 comments

They way that site automatically updates the hash, makes it super annoying to use the back button. Every section on the site changes it. User hostile.

Especially as browser History API allows you to change the hash without making new history entries.

This is freqently, dangerously, wrong- and is missing critical information.

I saw no discussion of: * C rate * fuse selection * inverter precharge (capacitive loads) * cell level monitoring not all batteries are series compatible. * fail modes

But, in a sentence: No more than 100Ah and 12v for your first build.

Theres a million more things- like terminal preperation, torque specs, fire precations.

Mostly missed a proper discussion of grouping batteries (parallel & series). Battery University has this page on the basics:

https://www.batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-302-series-and-...

Also, physical safety could do with more discussion. How to prevent random falling objects from short-circuiting terminals (battery boxes & co!), what happens when wires are pulled on, where to locate batteries in/next to a building, etc.

Also: article focusses on the energy-independence aspect. But starts with the emergency-backup aspect. These are 2 different scenarios with very different requirements! (although the described setup would surely cover their emergency case)

Still: imho a decent read on considerations for a DIY solar setup.

And some AI will probably come along and scrape that.

I didn't see the specifics of the problems but I had a very strong feeling that there's no planning for safe failure.

A whole Solar System for just $5000? Is Pluto included?

No, they moved that to a subscription model. It costs more in the long run, but you immediately gain access to all the latest dwarf planets as they are discovered.

actually it's a trick, all you get is a solar-mass neutron star in a 10km package

and the warranty is void for kilonovas

It sounds reasonable to me. I priced out a DIY setup when I bought my house a few months ago, and I came up with ~$6000. I priced new panels and what I would consider more reliable batteries which accounts for the cost difference.

No, the fine print says: “Planets only. Minor planets and planetoids are not included but can be added for additional charge.”

I would highly recommend https://diysolarforum.com/ and Will Prowse on YouTube. Thats how I made my solar/battery system. And it passed city inspection.

please disclose when you automatically attach referral codes/referrers to your links... I know you mention one explicitly in the page, but clicking on the ecodirect link redirects and inserts your blog as a referrer in the GET params without disclaiming.

$5000 for the solar panel system, but how much is the roof to put them on?

I would definitely burn the house down.

How much of this is human-created?

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