diy solar

diy solar

RE+ solar conference is fast approaching! What new products or booths are you interested in?

Rednecktek said:
That sounds interesting.
Click to expand...
Eikto sales brochure
IMG_20230914_070816_HDR.jpg

They have also launched a new sales website for their US debut. This wasn't up when I last visited their site
www.eikto-tech.com

Battery Cell - The world's leading industrial lithium battery manufacturer

EIKRTO is the most advanced Battery Cell manufacturer—enhanced battery performance with superior technology for more efficient charging, discharging, and lifespan.
www.eikto-tech.com www.eikto-tech.com
Their other site
www.eikto.com

Neptune Battery

xtra protective structure is added inside the aluminum box to provide better holding force, avoid swollen, and have better anti-vibration.
www.eikto.com www.eikto.com

Both links are directly to the cells and yes that is a correct link I double checked it.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20230914_070816_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20230914_070816_HDR.jpg
    440.3 KB · Views: 2
Perception is hard to overcome. I suspect its not just your picture posted with an EG4 whether at the Lux booth or EG4. How many EG4 product review videos have you done, as compared to Sol-Ark? I've heard you say supportive things about Sol-Ark but they are usually qualified by cost and I have only seen one actual Sol-Ark review video. You are running a lot more EG4 products that any other, so I think its fair to say that you do have a tendancy to lean toward EG4. Not saying its intentional, but from a perception perspective its easy to see why the Sol-Ark guys might take it that way. The CEO of Sol-Ark might have acted a bit jerky, but James seems every bit as arrogant and cocky from his postings here. Not trying to sound like I'm knocking your approach, but from a perception perspective you can probably see their point of view. Maybe you could look into working a little more with Sol-Ark to review their products and change the perception. In my current setup, I'm going with a Sol-Ark 15K and EG4 Powerpro batteries so I don't have a bias either way.
 
mtnman1 said:
Perception is hard to overcome. I suspect its not just your picture posted with an EG4 whether at the Lux booth or EG4. How many EG4 product review videos have you done, as compared to Sol-Ark? I've heard you say supportive things about Sol-Ark but they are usually qualified by cost and I have only seen one actual Sol-Ark review video. You are running a lot more EG4 products that any other, so I think its fair to say that you do have a tendancy to lean toward EG4. Not saying its intentional, but from a perception perspective its easy to see why the Sol-Ark guys might take it that way. The CEO of Sol-Ark might have acted a bit jerky, but James seems every bit as arrogant and cocky from his postings here. Not trying to sound like I'm knocking your approach, but from a perception perspective you can probably see their point of view. Maybe you could look into working a little more with Sol-Ark to review their products and change the perception. In my current setup, I'm going with a Sol-Ark 15K and EG4 Powerpro batteries so I don't have a bias either way.
Click to expand...

If you perceive that someone has a bias against your company, the obvious best course of action is to be an ass towards them at a tradeshow.

Sol-Ark doesn't have that many products. Their website lists a handful of inverters and some optimizers. Its completely reasonable to qualify comments with cost and I don't think it warrants mention in a discussion of bias. I'm pretty against the idea of going out of your way to SEEM unbiased, rather than just BEING unbiased. It tends to create a situation where the coverage isn't actually unbiased.

What Sol-Ark products do you propose that he cover?
 
Figured someone would immediately get defensive, but Will asked. As far as Sol-Ark products, why limit it? Why not review any/all of their products. As I said, I'm not knocking Will's approach, but I've seen 1 review of a Sol-Ark 15K and never saw a follow-up on even hooking it up. I am not defending Sol-Ark or picking on Will, so won't get into an argument over it, but its very easy to see why Sol-Ark views are what they are. Will's comment about SS paying higher contact rates makes sense to me given how he earns a living, but certainly also suggests bias.
Tmoney2007 said:
If you perceive that someone has a bias against your company, the obvious best course of action is to be an ass towards them at a tradeshow.

Sol-Ark doesn't have that many products. Their website lists a handful of inverters and some optimizers. Its completely reasonable to qualify comments with cost and I don't think it warrants mention in a discussion of bias. I'm pretty against the idea of going out of your way to SEEM unbiased, rather than just BEING unbiased. It tends to create a situation where the coverage isn't actually unbiased.

What Sol-Ark products do you propose that he cover?
Click to expand...
 
Definitely don't try to spotlight Sol-Ark to be perceived as fair. Rewarding a big dog for being uninformed is not good.

Accept that being known by more people will result in more garbage for whatever reason, most beyond your control.

That Sol-Ark person gets most of his business from installers, not DIY'ers; he wanted to make a point to you and felt it would not impact his bottom line.

Another possible scenario is the executive recently got notice from a very capable lawyer that his wife wants a divorce. We just do not know what individuals are facing in their life at any given time.
 
What Tmoney2007 said was what I was going to post just now. I agree Will comes off as an eg4 mouth piece IF you look at it as a eg4 vs sol-ark.

That said he kind of has to. Let that sink in before continuing a second...................


Now here is why. As Tmoney mentioned sol-ark doesn't have that many products and sol-ark has zero interest in diy from what I've seen advertising wise. They want to sell to installers. Oh they don't make it a nightmare for you to do diy but their business model appears to me to be installer/dealer aimed.

EG4 wants to sell stuff. They are pathetic at supporting it pr wise in my opinion but they want to sell stuff. Dealer/installer/diy/hookers it doesn't matter they want to sell stuff and they have a ton of stuff to sell. Inverters, stand alone chargers, more aio models than you can shake a stick at, panel racks, batteries, battery racks, etc.

Now back to how Will has to play into this. He reviews stuff and makes videos of products.

<These figures are to make a point and are not real>

Sol-ark has 7 things they sell and 3 of these things fall into Wills review categories. So how many videos can Will make without repeating....
3

EG4 makes all kinds of crap or rebrands all kinds of stuff. So lets say 15 of these things fall into Wills review category. So how many videos can Will make without repeating....
15

At this point Will is making 15 eg4 vids and 3 sol-ark vids. So Will starts looking like eg4 mouth piece. But all he did was make 1 video for each product. But it gets worse. OMG it gets worse for Will.

The sol-ark stuff worked. So he made a boring video for each of the working sol-ark units. 3 videos.

EG4 units had issues. So Will has to make more videos about the problems people keep running into and the problems he ran into and videos to cover what the forum members are whining about.

Uh oh now we have 50 videos covering issues with eg4 and the original review videos.

Will is now looked at as owning stock in eg4.

So basically Will is screwed thru his own biz model even though he is being neutral.

I believe Will is doing it right but that doesn't help with the way its being perceived.
 
Last edited:
"No news is good news", ergo those 50 videos.

Will also has to spend his time on the sort of videos that get "readership" or I guess that would be "eyeballs". Mostly beginner stuff, he says, not the more sophisticated projects.

DIY is a relatively small market.

Is there a way Will can review and recommend equipment that makes up the bulk of the market, grid-tie PV systems and systems with batteries, which are mostly installed by pros?

Most people respond to marketing from big PV companies and buy what they offer. Armed with some knowledge they might choose among Enphase, SolarEdge, SolArk, Fronius, SMA, maybe some EG models, etc. Then they would have to select an installer that handles such equipment.

Much bigger market, but affiliate links would have to go through installers. Or is there some way for manufacturers to compensate him when consumers view his videos and hire a local installer?
 
Will Prowse said:
It's not the EG4 booth. It's luxpower. And why didn't anyone think I work for sol ark when I did my 15K video?

I have no sponsorship contract or brand deals with any of these companies. Not one. I make money with affiliate commission or charge direct without a contract. How many times do I have to repeat myself.
Click to expand...
It's possible the Sol-Ark guy happened upon the Luxpower booth and saw the video/picture of you up on the wall standing next to an EG4. Hopefully Luxpower got permission from you to use your likeness like that.
 
I think you still have to get permission to use peoples videos. Especially in sales promos.
 
mtnman1 said:
Figured someone would immediately get defensive, but Will asked. As far as Sol-Ark products, why limit it? Why not review any/all of their products. As I said, I'm not knocking Will's approach, but I've seen 1 review of a Sol-Ark 15K and never saw a follow-up on even hooking it up. I am not defending Sol-Ark or picking on Will, so won't get into an argument over it, but its very easy to see why Sol-Ark views are what they are. Will's comment about SS paying higher contact rates makes sense to me given how he earns a living, but certainly also suggests bias.
Click to expand...
Pretty strange to read defensiveness from a 3rd party... I'm not sure why it makes sense to go to bat for an exec who was cold to someone at a trade show (which is not justifiable or productive, even if they perceive bias).

Why not review any/all of their products? On Sol-Ark's website, they currently show a 5k, an 8k, a 12k and a 15k inverter for the US market. My understanding is that they all have very similar interfaces/features (which is not a bad thing at all.) I believe the 15k inverter, which has a review, is the only one that came out recently. They also have DC optimizers, which seem to be outside of the scope of the channel. Its not like they've got a whole line of products that have been ignored. They've got batteries coming out. I imagine they'll get a review if it is feasible.

EG4 has released more products in the time that the channel has been active. There is simply more to review from them. There's nothing wrong with Sol-Ark staying focused primarily on inverters, but on a channel that seems to focus on batteries and inverters, one new product every couple years isn't going to get you a ton of screen time. That's just how it is. Doing a bunch of videos on the same sol-ark products in order to appease the executives of that company would indicate more bias than reviewing new products from another company as they come out.

One of the benefit of releasing more products is that your name will tend to show up in the reviewer space organically more often.
 
Tulex said:
Again, it's perception. You can do all the right things right, and it really only matters what people think they see. The video at the booth for example. Yes, it was your review, just like other reviews, including Sol-Ark. But, at that booth, you are simply what people see, a person presenting a product. The everyday person walking by that booth, or coming here for a quick answer, they don't know your model. They simply see you with a product. I watch a lot of youtube, and there are many people being very careful to cover their money making situation up front, as much of youtube is becoming nothing more than a marketplace, and some of these people recognize the negative view people are developing. They cover it each and every video to make it clear what they do and don't do.
Click to expand...
I believe that's to stay compliant with the FTC Act (disclosing any financial compensation given for a review, including receiving free items etc).
 
Tulex said:
I think it's more of a Sol-Ark issue. To me, they are a company that earned a bit of swagger. They've decided it's time to grow the company at the same time major competition is coming out. Has to be a bit unsettling. I think that, instead of having a battle plan ready (they had to know this was going to happen), they've decided to be dismissive of the competition. Not a good look. Sad, because I want them to survive, I may need support for my 15K someday.
Click to expand...
It's crazy because the identical Deye gear is half the price...not sure how long that bubble can be sustained.
 
I’m curious as to what else/why people want will to review more stuff from solark than the 15ish kw inverter
I’m in a couple of solark groups online and even they, when someone makes a thread with “I just need a basic system, the 8kw unit should fit my needs” and everyone replies “just get the 15k”
Seems half the 12k owners here want to upgrade to the 15k for whatever reason
So if their own user base completely ignores the notion that solark even sells anything outside of the 15k why should will waste time on the content?
 
Brucey said:
It's crazy because the identical Deye gear is half the price...not sure how long that bubble can be sustained.
Click to expand...
Well, now u can get it in Duracell copper so I’m sure the bubble will continue a bit longer
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top