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‘Broken’ solar panels manufactured to deter criminals in South Africa
- rekttrader 3y agoIt’s like putting a ticket on your car to avoid getting one.
- peppertree 3y agoI did that once and got another ticket for "abandonment" and almost got towed.
- Dylan16807 3y agoIs that location's threshold for abandonment "long enough for two ticket-givers to see the same car"? That doesn't seem like nearly enough time.
- tokai 3y agoMaybe the date on the ticket he used was ancient.
- rekttrader 3y agoJust use the envelope...
- api 3y ago... or driving an embarrassing piece of junk car to avoid getting broken into.
- Eric_WVGG 3y agoI was thinking of how cyclists will often cover new bicycles in crappy worn stickers to make them look not-new, and also Van Moof's idea to ship bicycles in boxes that look like they're televisions so they get handled better. https://www.vanmoof.com/blog/en/tv-bike-box https://www.vanmoof.com/blog/en/tv-bike-box
- bityard 3y agoIn my personal experience, writing "fragile" on a box is the best way to get it yeeted across the shipping warehouse or stuck on the bottom of an 800-pound stack of packages. Joking aside, the USPS and package couriers are not required to (and in most cases cannot) treat any kind of package more carefully than the others based on "fragile" notices and product descriptions on the box itself. Notices are required for certain kinds of potentially dangerous items, but other than that, the safety of your items is entirely up to how well they are packaged.
- matthew-wegner 3y agoI have heard of travel photographers doing this with high-end DSLRs. You can use miniature painting techniques to make cameras look incredibly worn to the point of broken.
- scottyah 3y agoSame with bicycles in New York City, even mimicking beat up duct tape and rust (although the entire frame and water bottle holder are carbon fiber).
- exitb 3y agoThere are more reasons to do this, other than theft. Often photographer does NOT want to appear professional, as it affects their subjects.
- sottol 3y agoOr you could just buy a Leica M-P "Correspondent" [1] - by LENNY KRAVITZ DESIGN - that came roughed up and brassed from the factory. I think they only charged $15,000-20,000 extra over the $5,000 base price of a regular M-P. Ahhh, the beautiful and strange world of the uber-wealthy and collectors. Burt more seriously, I've often seen photographers use black gaffer tape to hide the prominent camera manufacturer logos. [1] https://leica-camera.com/en-US/Company/Press-Centre/Press-Releases/2015/Press-Release-Special-limited-edition-LEICA-M-P-%E2%80%98CORRESPONDENT%E2%80%99-SET-CREATED-BY-LENNY-KRAVITZ-FOR-KRAVITZ-DESIGN https://leica-camera.com/en-US/Company/Press-Centre/Press-Re...
- mholm 3y agoSeems like a useful trick for any existing manufacturer: Any defects that still mostly function could be sold to South Africa instead of being broken back down for parts.
- aziaziazi 3y agoI take great care to keep my bike dirty. I regularly maintain and grease the transmission clearance and bearings, but the frame must always be a little greasy and muddy, the handlebar tape slack and the saddle full of tape for fictitious repairs. Every part is carefully chosen for its quality and style mismatched with the others.
- darken 3y agoAfter having 2 bikes stolen back in college, my last (brand new) one was haphazardly spray painted rusty-brown and had cotton stuffing taped to the underside of the seat. That one never got stolen, despite having it for much longer.
- Scoundreller 3y agoThat all worked for me in Toronto, until the pandemic. Then someone peeled the tape off, revealing an actual crack on the saddle, and still took it. Steel 27” wheel stolen. (And they unbolted the other wheel even though it was locked all along???) Someone tried to rip off my dollar store bell, but just broke it (and possibly cut themself). Bike light holder stolen, even though it’s like a $25 light and only a few extra dollar discount to buy without the holder. Ugh… And the whole bike is some steel POS older than me, but always U-locked, tho now I cable lock the other wheel and chained my saddle.
- marssaxman 3y agoPeople steal the weirdest things: a couple of months ago someone got into my pickup and made off with a hitch pin that happened to be sitting on the floorboard. Resale value might be... two dollars?
- jandrese 3y agoMeth is a hell of a drug. Anti-theft strategies can fail simply because some thieves are not in a fit mental state and act irrationally. I once had a bike frame damaged because I had it secured to a bike rack, and someone tried to steal it by grabbing the rear tire and yanking on the bike in the hopes that the lock would fail. Instead it snapped off a small chunk of the frame behind the rear axle. This was an aluminum frame on a $400 bike too, I was kind of impressed at how hard the bum must have been going at it.
- scrlk 3y agoPerhaps the South African "Blaster" anti-carjacking device from the 90s could be adapted for solar panels? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLhWzMOccTg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLhWzMOccTg
- tibbydudeza 3y agoThose things have 4Kw flowing through them and the circuit breakers are located in the home - it would not surprise me if it is dodgy installers who are running short on stock and repurposing them :).
- tibbydudeza 3y agoIt is kind of on point for us - you have to put metal grilles around your gate motors or A/C compressors otherwise it gets stolen - not surprising considering the worst gini coefficient in the world (63).
- yetanotherloser 3y agoGini coefficients? No. Low chance of being caught, low chance of meaningful punishment, low public profile of punishment putting it out of sight and put of mind. High chance of being let off, which has a higher public profile. It may make wellmeaning people feel good and it avoids hurting some individuals, but it's disastrous for society.
- tibbydudeza 3y agoIf 38% of people don't have a stable income except for a measly govt social grant for R350 per month then it seems clear to me there is a correlation between poverty and the rampant crime.
- sgt 3y agoI want my sassa grant! Imagine.. R350 is like half a bag of groceries at Woolies.
- yetanotherloser 3y agoYou get more of what you subsidise. Looks like that social grant did as designed and created a shitload of social grant recipients - politically useful to someone, at vast human cost.
- underlipton 3y agoAn ounce of prevention, etc. A society that doesn't produce people desperate or disbelieving of the social contract enough to break the law en masse won't have people who break the law en masse.
- MinMax50_50 3y agoYou know your country's broken when you have to design things around thieves instead of customers. Hopefully the US doesn't get this far, but it does seem we're on the road to it.
- tomcam 3y agoI guess you don’t know what’s been going on for years in San Francisco: https://www.carscoops.com/2021/12/people-in-california-are-leaving-their-trunks-open-to-dissuade-thieves/amp/ https://www.carscoops.com/2021/12/people-in-california-are-l...
- inferiorhuman 3y agoThat picture is not of/from San Francisco.
- itsyaboi 3y agoHow can you tell?
- inferiorhuman 3y agoBecause I clicked on the link and watched the embedded video? I've never once seen anyone do that in the Bay Area. Given that the "source" is a well known tabloid (Inside Edition) I'll go so far as to say the whole thing was probably staged.
- itsyaboi 3y agoYou seem confused. Perhaps you meant to reply to a different comment? The article linked in the parent comment is about San Fransisco, not the Bay Area. I was also specifically asking about the picture, not a video. Are you assuming that the picture is a still from the video? If not, I don't see how this is relevant. http://lmgtfy2.com/?q=san+francisco+unlocked+cars http://lmgtfy2.com/?q=san+francisco+unlocked+cars
- woodruffw 3y agoThere’s an interesting incentive cycle here: decades of underinvestment in the power grid[1] have driven wealthier (in turn, primarily whiter) South Africans towards individual power sources, in turn fostering a market for stolen solar panels, etc. A good example of how private power sources (even green ones) exacerbate underinvestment in public utilities (since the people most capable of financing the utilities can opt out of doing so instead). [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_energy_crisis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_energy_crisis
- aidenn0 3y agoThat's a good data-point, because a few people were speculating that with the PG&E new proposed fee structure (lower per kWh charges coupled with a income-indexed flat monthly fee), the most wealthy would choose to opt-out of the grid instead of paying the fee, and this could trickle down until the grid was unsustainable.
- tibbydudeza 3y agoIt is already happening - some municipalities get nearly 50% of their income from reselling power and water - the people who actually pay for these services are now moving onto solar. And with Eskom losing these prime customers it will mean increase bailouts from govt which means increased tax burdens on taxpayers who happen to be the same ones who moved to solar.
- b59831 3y ago[dead]
- castigatio 3y agoOut of curiosity - of all the reasons for underinvestment in and failure of public utilities in SA why do you find this one interesting? In the case of SA the failure is almost entirely attributable to the policies and practices of the government over the past 30 years. No amount of investment in the public power utility would make any difference - because all the money that goes in goes straight out via corruption and nepotism. Those South Africans who can afford to go off the grid have not opted out of public utilities - public utilities are approaching non-existent - forcing people to spend on alternative energy just to have the luxury of having lights in their homes at night or cooking a meal.
- nevi-me 3y agoIt defeats the purpose when it becomes common knowledge that the panels are deliberately made to look damaged. Probably also makes it convenient for thieves as they can sell actually damaged panels and claim that they're these deliberate ones. Outside of remote farms and businesses in industrial areas, there are claims that some of the installers will tip off their friends/associates about large residential installations so they can come steal them and go reuse them elsewhere. Most people who install panels would live in houses that would require an electrical certificate of compliance, which TMK have to be issued by certified installers. So it makes it plausible that some installers probably buy stolen goods to increase their margins. It's sad what humans will steal. In some South African rural areas, people have opted to start pouring concrete on a grave during a burial. A few months back I attended a relative's funeral, and there were a few freshly dug out graves (where it shows that someone was recently buried), and people were just going on with the business of the day, not seemingly bothered by this.
- josephcsible 3y ago> Probably also makes it convenient for thieves as they can sell actually damaged panels and claim that they're these deliberate ones. I think this is actually a good thing, since it will disincentivize people from buying stolen goods.
- jermaustin1 3y agoNothing will disincentivize buying something for a price that is too good to be true. That is a risk many are willing to take. I see it all the time on reddit who fall for scams on Facebook Marketplace, Etsy, and Ebay.
- jncfhnb 3y agoUsed to be you’d have to trap your grave to thwart the resurrection man.
- t43562 3y agoSouth Africa has had very serious crime problems for a long time. It's not a 3rd world thing because it's richer than its neighbors but seems to have far more violent crime. In general though, when the government is corrupt, suffers state capture, cannot even properly put a former PM in jail for corruption etc then you can imagine they're not sorting out any of the causes or causees of this sort of crime.
- lucisferre 3y ago> cannot even properly put a former PM in jail for corruption Sounds familiar
- iacvlvs 3y agoSouth Africa’s violent crime problem isn’t despite its wealth, it’s because of the wealth and, crucially, the inequality in its distribution. Higher inequality is associated with higher crime and lower social trust. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-80897-8 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-80897-8
- legitster 3y ago> In the first quarter of 2023, South Africa imported five times as many batteries as it did in the whole of last year. > It shows South African households and businesses are becoming energy-independent and kissing Eskom goodbye. I know this is kind of painted as a humorous article, but things are pretty dire in South Africa. You are seeing a lot of hallmarks of a failing state - there's just an overwhelming lack of faith in the government to provide basic services. Either providing utilities or deterring crime. An underrated aspect of what is going on in the solar market is the enablement of off-grid living. This is HUGE right now, around the world. And while there is a positives that can come with individual self-sufficiency, it's important to note that it's not necessarily for the betterment of society. The people doing this are going to live in further remote areas - cutting down green spaces and consuming more fuel and resources than they would living on a city grid. This particular green revolution is going to be privatized and inegalitarian.
- woodpanel 3y agoA hen and egg problem? Are people to blame to flee density in failing states? Enabling them to do so doesn’t fix the core issue, but so doesn’t blaming them for their needs (in case of SA: blaming a minority for their needs already is the de-facto core ideology of the political establishment).
- legitster 3y ago> A hen and egg problem? A lot of Why Nations Fail covers this - collapsing or failed developing countries deal with multiple runaway problems. I do not begrudge individuals doing the best for themselves. But in the grand run of history, democratic free markets with robust middle classes are mostly historical accidents where there is a critical mass of people mutually invested in collective success.
- laputan_machine 3y ago> This particular green revolution is going to be privatized and inegalitarian. It's never good enough for some people is it? :)
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- sgt 3y agoWith almost "everyone" (read: middle class ++) getting solar panels these days, I seriously doubt that we'll be seeing this much. I suspect it's just a gimmick, playing on our reputation for high crime. I'm in SA (near Cape Town) and my house is surrounded by other houses that have solar panels - none look broken and I've yet to heard about one being stolen.
- tibbydudeza 3y agoIn our middle class area there is the neighborhood watch, and we have camera surveillance mounted at all the incoming roads to the suburb and ADT/Chubb patrolling the areas. The brunt of crime happens in the poor areas i.e townships and Cape Flats.
- throw1234651234 3y agoWhat are the gun laws like? Why is crime so high?
- sgt 3y agoGun laws are definitely not as liberal as the US, since you need to register for a firearm licence. There is no right to bear arms, you need to be licensed to do it, which is possible for most adults. There is a theory and practical exams, and you are also legally required to own a gun safe at home. Once you have it though you can concealed carry which is great.
- walrus01 3y agoanecdotally, I know of some south african ISPs that have gone to extreme measures with steel armored containers, razor wire and such to prevent telecom battery systems from being stolen. Along with any other electronics. It's a hard problem to solve when you have lots of remote, unstaffed locations with electronics and batteries.
- gnicholas 3y agoWould this affect the transmission of light through the glass?
- squarefoot 3y agoReminds me of the reinforced door in my old apartment; when I got in there it was evident the door had been previously forced open. It was also repaired and would work properly, but signs still were very easy to spot. I chose to keep it although apartment theft was quite common there, the idea being that it should have worked as a deterrent, and it did: I left that house over 20 years later without any burglaries.
- tamimio 3y agoLooks like solar panels have a lot of enemies! Even crows are attacking them https://thenationview.com/tech/45719.html https://thenationview.com/tech/45719.html
- londons_explore 3y agoI have just purchased 1500 brand new but broken panels (660 kilowatts) The reason is a little different though... By being broken they are classified as scrap electronics rather than solar panels as far as import taxes go. That makes them half the price. It makes good business sense when they still have a 25 year manufacturer's power output guarantee. The only element of the guarantee that is lost is that they no longer will be electrically isolated from rainwater. That means I need to install them inside barbed wire fences and extra signage to prevent trespassers and thieves getting electrocuted.
- abrookewood 3y agoA long time ago I had to set up a remote office in South Africa and the local finance officer insisted on a wireless connection. I explained that an ADSL connection would provide a much more reliable connection (no shared medium, less interference etc) and his retort was something along the lines of "only up until the point that someone steals the copper wire". Apparently it happened so frequently that most wired connections were no longer viable.