Unintended consequences of Solar that we see

[timselectric]

Nothing new for me.
It's not limited to solar knowledge.

 

[wpns]

We totally agree ……
I have several friends that have watched what I have done out here…..and see it working…
they are wanting me to help them with the solar stuff they want to create to power their big home and all appliances and etc….…..their budget is +/- a couple of grand… … im supposed to do it free …..
At first I tried to offer what advice I could or felt qualified to offer ….buttt…
No matter what I told them to consider or think about researching ,they do dumb stuff …because “some guy “ they met at the Piggly Wiggly told them that cheap China solar stuff is best..…and that eBay would insure they can’t get ripped off….or they already have alot of 12v car audio stuff from the 90,s …..or …or…or….

I have quit telling anyone I even have a system… and if they know already , I tell em it broke.

I know there are exceptions , but generally leave family and friends alone unless you wish to start a “ not for profit “ solar consulting business …so you can hear about every quirk that ever happens, and trouble shoot it on the phone …..forever ….


That’s just my take on it…….J

That’s the “You touch it, you own it” issue. Be careful out there!

 

[Madcodger]

Nothing new for me.
It's not limited to solar knowledge.

I've been trying to learn the "just shut up - it's not your problem unless someone is paying you to solve it" mantra. I give advice in a couple of niche areas for a living, primarily to large corporations. Even then, I'm amazed at how often the client pays us, thanks us, praises our work, and then goes off and does something completely different. Then they come back later asking for our help to fix the problem they created by not following our advice. Usually, they've had a series of internal meetings where some yahoo with little to no knowledge or experience, who is often now off on some other project or not even part of the company, persuaded or ordered everyone to do it a different way. Inside our company, after hearing each other complain about how frustrating and demoralizing this is (like digging a hole and filling it back in, over and over) we now look at each other and say, "Don't whine - just invoice." That helps a little, but less than you might think. I find it even more frustrating when friends do the same, 'cause they're not paying for the help. So, I try to just shut up more often. Varying degrees of success there...

 

[wpns]

I've been trying to learn the "just shut up - it's not your problem unless someone is paying you to solve it" mantra. I give advice in a couple of niche areas for a living, primarily to large corporations. Even then, I'm amazed at how often the client pays us, thanks us, praises our work, and then goes off and does something completely different. Then they come back later asking for our help to fix the problem they created by not following our advice. Usually, they've had a series of internal meetings where some yahoo with little to no knowledge or experience, who is often now off on some other project or not even part of the company, persuaded or ordered everyone to do it a different way. Inside our company, after hearing each other complain about how frustrating and demoralizing this is (like digging a hole and filling it back in, over and over) we now look at each other and say, "Don't whine - just invoice." That helps a little, but less than you might think. I find it even more frustrating when friends do the same, 'cause they're not paying for the help. So, I try to just shut up more often. Varying degrees of success there...

I keep telling myself “Billable Hours” but as you note it doesn’t help enough. It’s occasionally nice to refer them back to the consultant that did it wrong. He did it wrong? Gosh, that’s unfortunate.

 

[timselectric]

With friends and family, cost is usually the deciding factor.
With my customers, down time is the only thing that matters.
I just finished a project that I have been trying to do for two years.
It took my customer that long to allow me the time to make the repair.
And it only happened because they were already going to be down for other repairs. (That didn't give them a choice)

 

[Danke]

Tell me about it.

 

[JRH]

You are so right !
The unintended consequence of going solar...becoming a "not for profit family and friends solar consultant, installer and all hours trouble-shooter!"

Yep…and anything else you fix too.

 

[timselectric]

It's rare for someone to call me to just say hi.
It's usually, "how do I fix this?"