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> We'll pay ourselves by mining monero A policy which incentivises turning excess solar energy into one step above pure heat. Classic.

• matheusmoreira 3y ago
  Well, it's solar energy. Pretty much as close to being pure heat as it gets. Completely wasted heat at that: before solar panels, all it did was heat up my home. In fact, I have to pay money every single day in order to run air conditioners to keep that heat out because otherwise it gets so hot I have a panic attack. The heat is actually harmful to me. With solar panels, I get to redirect that useless sun heat into those air conditioners. The result is more money in my wallet. It's perfect. Even if I were to mine cryptocurrency, it's still pure heat anyway. Sun's shining whether we want it or not. I'd just buy more panels so I can redirect more sun energy into computer chips instead of allowing it to uselessly heat up my backyard. Processors dissipating heat or backyard radiating away heat at night -- what's the difference? The system asked me for a hostname of sorts when I set it up. I named it "sun monetizer". Makes the sun useful for something. I used to hate the sun with every fiber of my being. Now I monetize it. The next step is realizing that cryptocurrencies make it possible to monetize the sun at industrial scales by serving as energy-to-money converters. Sun's gonna continue injecting heat into this earth whether we want it or not. Better make the most of it.
  • elzbardico 3y ago
    A big problem in Brasil is that most residential building are not built to be energy efficient and modern architecture is making this even worse. No isolation on roof and walls, giant glass planes everywhere.
    • matheusmoreira 3y ago
      Can thermal isolation help reduce air conditioning costs by keeping the heat out? I asked someone this once and they looked at me like I was insane. I got the impression this is only done in cold climates.
      • elzbardico 3y ago
        Yes. Even small retrofits like putting thermal isolation under the tiles or in the attic's floor make a sizable difference. I did this in a home I lived in Rio de Janeiro. If you are thinking about building in brasil, instead of traditional masonry, consider using insulated structural panels, called EPS in brazil. I friend of mine did a home using this system in Rio de Janeiro where you easily get over 42C (107 F) outside in the summer. It works fantastically. Energy in Brasil used to be way less expensive, and traditional masonry and concrete construction is not very friendly to insulation unless you do like the germans that have double walls with the insulation in the middle. So, culturally, insulation is kind of an alien concept for a lot of people and even engineers.
        • matheusmoreira 3y ago
          Thanks for the tips!! I do want to get a home of my own design constructed in the future. I've been compiling resources on the matter and the information you provided is extremely useful.