This website is solar powered and running on a Raspberry Pi-like computer

Seems deeply inspired by <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;solar.lowtechmagazine.com&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;solar.lowtechmagazine.com&#x2F;</a><p>- Yes they mention it on their website. Love LowTechMagazine.<p>I&#x27;ve been meaning to try this out sometime. It&#x27;d be a fun side project.

I love the concept, but I&#x27;m extremely skeptical that the dithered PNG images are smaller than a (much nicer looking, but lossy) JPEG. It&#x27;s fine if that&#x27;s the aesthetic they&#x27;re going for, but it doesn&#x27;t seem like it would reduce the server load...<p>For the record, one of the 640x480 PNGs is 41 KB, and I just saved an elaborate, full-color (and higher resolution) JPEG at a smaller file size (quality was around 50, I think). The JPEG looks completely fine on my (normal DPI) screen.<p>Edit: It <i>does</i> look like they scale up the PNGs (at least when I view their site), and lossless images definitely scale better. Maybe that was the motivation.

Things like this actually bother me. They make it seem like the only way to be energy efficient is to give up all amenities, including aesthetics.<p>This is not the way to promote energy efficiency IMO.

There’s something charming about a website being tied to something physical like how this one requires sunny weather, reminds me of the blog post “I wish my web server were in the corner of my room” <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;interconnected.org&#x2F;home&#x2F;2022&#x2F;10&#x2F;10&#x2F;servers" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;interconnected.org&#x2F;home&#x2F;2022&#x2F;10&#x2F;10&#x2F;servers</a><p>although if this site is truly meant to be environmentally friendly I feel like that’s completely negated by the fact it uses lithium ion batteries, switching to lithium for such a low power project just moves the environmental damage somewhere else

I did a similar project a while back - my two takeaways were that you need a bigger solar panel than you think and a bigger battery than you think. It’s not even cloudy days - the difference between the amount of sun on a sunny day in October and December is significant (at least, in Northern California).

Technically not completely powered by solar power, since they decided to include remote analytics[1] served by a cdn which is probably hosted in one of those data centers they mention. :)<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;cdn.splitbee.io&#x2F;sb.js" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;cdn.splitbee.io&#x2F;sb.js</a>

Pretty cool for the hack factor here. I live in a neighborhood that is on the grid, but subscribed to 100% renewable energy plan. Way less cooler than this project, but I can claim the same (well, renewable) just by running a website on my laptop! :)

I enjoy looking at dithered images like they are using. It&#x27;s too bad the lovely dithering turns into periodic-looking patterns when scaled down per the 60vh-width directive in the css.

I wonder if putting extensive load on the server could drain the battery in enough time before the sun comes up?

I have my router, wifi, and a mac mini server that are connected to a UPS, which is connected to a LiFePO4 battery, which is charged by solar panels. But you don’t see me bragging abo- oh wait.

I am curious about what kind of setup would be optimal to charge a LiOn array, instead of Lead-Acid. Taking into account the requirements of the project, every solar mppt charger for residential use is very over spec.<p>The typical &quot;solar usb power banks&quot; carry a very small solar cell, and probably don&#x27;t bother implementing mppt. I am clueless on where to look for a mppt charger for sub 500W installations. Ideally, that supports LiOn to recycle old laptop batteries

I knew it wouldn&#x27;t load but I clicked it like a fool anyway.

Wonder how its connected to internet

This kind of thing is less fun, but more efficient and environmentally friendly:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;cleantechnica.com&#x2F;2022&#x2F;12&#x2F;29&#x2F;waste-heat-from-data-centers-can-bolster-district-heat-systems&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;cleantechnica.com&#x2F;2022&#x2F;12&#x2F;29&#x2F;waste-heat-from-data-ce...</a>

Love this aesthetic.<p>I suppose this dithering would decrease PNG file size somewhat, because it would increase the number of repeated pixel subsequences, improving the efficacy of the Huffman coding. But has anyone actually done an analysis of how much?

Reminds me of <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;scott.ee&#x2F;project&#x2F;solar-hosting-raspberry-pi" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;scott.ee&#x2F;project&#x2F;solar-hosting-raspberry-pi</a>

aaaaand it&#x27;s down

is this website running on a little computer next to solar panels or is it running in a neiborhood powered with solar panels how is this all set up?

Now they need to start a business named <i>Ironwood Solar</i> and make this their business site.

Only the RPi itself is powered by a solar panel, maybe the CPE too. Keep that in mind.

What board did you use?

i wonder where this is hosted

Potato computer was cooler<p>Heh

&gt; While we are in the process of adding more content to this site, we are proud to be home to the world&#x27;s first environmentally friendly rickroll.<p>Imagine thinking your pile of consumer electronics dedicated to serving a single frivolous web site is something environmentally friendly...