The reason I'm asking is that, to me, all the ways to get into solar seem really expensive.

Even what many people online call 'cheap' is often beyond my budget.

Is it more about doing a DIY setup, finding recycled solar equipment, or are there other affordable options? Should I just start the self-teaching route and do the work there? I am getting information overload, so I'm not sure where to start.

For context, I'm an older person with an income of less than $25K a year. I work as a teacher's aide in an underprivileged elementary school. So the salary won't increase.

I like what I do, so I'm not complaining, just giving you background to avoid the "get a higher paying job" replies, because I feel the work I do is important to the kids and I want to keep doing it for a little longer.

Is solar realistically within my reach?

We need altcoins as long as we interact economically over the net, with people we do not know (or simply with people outside our local communities). If we try to imagine what qualities a "solarpunk coin" should have, what are your thoughts? Do we know any existing coin, checking all boxes? This question is more about political economy of Solarpunk, then its technology.

Please include whether it's available on Android, iPhone, or a mobile Linux distro!

I've found Facebook marketplace to have a large reach, however I'd like to know if there are any good alternatives outside of Facebook?

Sorry for MS "commercial" but I think about tinkering with the AirSim framework. I suppose that the most pressing issue to solve within UAV technology is air traffic control and navigation of these vehicles to ensure safety.

Is anyone sharing their charging station. Using Plugshare, or some other method. I'm curious how this would work. As of now I'm producing more electrons than I'm using on a grid tied PV system. And my power company has different pricing depending on time of day, as well.

I want to learn more about #biopunk and #biohacking

What can you tell me about it? Is there a space to discuss them on the fediverse?

Don't get me wrong, having a vegetable garden is still a great thing and far better than buying the monoculture produce shipped from halfway around the world at the store, even if your garden is just for your own family. I don't want to knock that. But to break our reliance on extractivist agriculture as a society requires more than just people with the resources to do it building private homesteads on their private property. Communities providing for each other through the commons is a foundational element of a solarpunk society.

How do we encourage this shift in thinking and doing? What would it take to break down the expectations of private property and that something you've grown is just for you, and create community mindsets where something you've grown can feed people who need it?

Where I live, there are a lot of (mostly retired, suburban, well-off) people with gardens, especially in the summer, but most of them are not involved in FNB or anything like it. It's also not common to emphasize native species. We have a wonderful public market, but most of the people even with veggie gardens don't sell there and only buy there on occasion. The way I've been trying to encourage the public market over grocery stores more has mostly been talking about how great the produce is, how many different things they have, and how convenient it is that the bus runs there. It's still a market, but at least it's small, local growers, and a local org recovers what doesn't get sold for our FNB branch to use (and composts what isn't good, for the local community garden to use) instead of throwing it away. But the only way I can think of to get the idea out there that people should share what they grow is to flat-out say, "you should share what you grow", which doesn't seem like it would win many people over.

I’ve been boycotting PayPal for at least a decade, so I am somewhat out of touch with how they operate. Out of the blue, I received a call at a phone number paypal would not know I had. A bot said:

“This is Paypal calling to confirm the purchase of an iPhone. Press 1 to confirm this order or 2 to cancel” (paraphrasing)

Is that normal? Of course what I would like to know is whether my number was entered by someone as a typo, or whether this signals a malicious act. Or whether the whole call was fabricated and Paypal does not do this. And if it’s a malicious act, am I the victim, or was my phone number randomly entered with someone else as the victim?

If #paypal were on the ball, there would be 3 choices (confirm, cancel [customer changes their mind], or transaction unexpected [i.e. fraud]).

#askFedi

Appreciation post for the small steps that we collectively take to make a difference.

I'll go first: Mending my ripped pajamas instead of defaulting to buying a new pair.

I'm looking to see what coastal areas would be impacted, what regions would get above certain temperatures , etc, we all see sporadic individual images of these predictions in articles online but I wonder if there's a tool for that, ideally open source.

EDIT: ANSWERS

https://www.floodmap.net/

https://coast.noaa.gov/slr/

https://wcrp-cmip.org/cmip-phase-6-cmip6/

https://en-roads.climateinteractive.org/scenario.html?v=24.6.0

https://zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-ice-figures/

For those of us in North America, we've all been to a cafe and ordered a beverage to go, only to be met with that familiar "Choose tip amount" prompt...

Then comes the dilemma: do I tip?

My gut reaction is to tip 12% and save face — "I don't want to look like a cheapskate". However, I have never been to this cafe before. Do I really need To Insure Prompt Service after filling my travel mug with joe? Yet, in the back of my head, I know that their employer is paying them as little as possible, guilting patrons like me into filling the gap in their wages.

I'd indignantly prefer to use my tips on the cafe I frequent, the baristas I know, or the times I choose to and not because I was asked. Perhaps withholding it and "voting with my money" for the business owner to pay their staff fairly instead is the best choice.

But they're underpaid.

As you can tell my monologue, I have yet to find an answer to constantly being asked to tip in situations where I would not have of my own accord.

Would you tip?

Pros: decentralized, individualized, all the cool punk buzzwords.

Cons: drastic educational inequality (rich parents have lots more money to homeschool), bad/abusive parents, lack of accountability, lack of social cohesion.

Thoughts?

Here's a few to start:

• @solaradmin@solarcene.community
• @marieverdeil@post.lurk.org
• @solarpunkpresents@climatejustice.rocks
• @Serenity@solarcene.community

I will update this post as people join in. Here are a few to get started:

• Hacker News | Solarpunk Keyword Search
• Jeff Geerling Blog
• LOW←TECH MAGAZINE
• Strong Towns

I started this community to make it easy to ask each other Solarpunk-flavoured questions and spark thoughtful discussion. I believe that this will be helpful for our questions which don't necessarily fit within the various thematic communities.

All are welcome, regardless of which server you come from (yay, federation!). If anybody has any suggestions/ideas for this community or wants to help out with moderation, feel free to post or PM me; let's keep this collaborative and open.