What determines the role of members, specifically solar experts

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mcgivor
mcgivor Solar Expert Posts: 3,854 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
edited July 2018 in In the Weeds--Member's Choice #1
There are registered users and solar experts within the forum, what determines the designation as some apparent experts offer bum advice, whilst on the other hand other experts ask basic questions. Not to discredit the real experts who provide valuable information, it would appear it's based on how long the member has been registered, kind of like seniority in a union environment, am I correct in this assumption....just curious  
The rational behind the question is, some may assume the title of expert would imply extensive knowledge, providing information which is accurate, which may not nesesarally be the case. 
1500W, 6× Schutten 250W Poly panels , Schneider MPPT 60 150 CC, Schneider SW 2524 inverter, 400Ah LFP 24V nominal battery with Battery Bodyguard BMS 
Second system 1890W  3 × 300W No name brand poly, 3×330 Sunsolar Poly panels, Morningstar TS 60 PWM controller, no name 2000W inverter 400Ah LFP 24V nominal battery with Daly BMS, used for water pumping and day time air conditioning.  
5Kw Yanmar clone single cylinder air cooled diesel generator for rare emergency charging and welding.
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  • littleharbor2
    littleharbor2 Solar Expert Posts: 2,138 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #2
    Yet you're a "Registered User" with 1876 posts. Strange.

    2.1 Kw Suntech 175 mono, Classic 200, Trace SW 4024 ( 15 years old  but brand new out of sealed factory box Jan. 2015), Bogart Tri-metric,  460 Ah. 24 volt LiFePo4 battery bank. Plenty of Baja Sea of Cortez sunshine.

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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,696 admin
    #3
    There does not appear to be any functional difference between Registered and Solar Expert in permissions.

    I believe that this is a combination of a function from the old VBB days and the current Vanilla forum softwares.

    In the old days, there was an automatic progression from newbie to solar expert based on the number of posts into ~5 rankings (something like 5-100-200 posts or so)...

    Today, this field has been tied with the old "VBB Ranking" and Vanilla "Roles"... Basically people whom have "Registered" (everyone is registered to post, no registration needed to read) and permissions (i.e., Moderators and Admins).

    You can blame me for the lack of active ranking of members. When the forum was being configured for our use--I aked to not have people "rank/repulations" voted on. I prefered people to take posts at face value for information content and not base "qualifying" a post on how active a member was, and if there was a disagreement with suggestions/comments/etc., that they be discussed "in thread".

    I went through the software and looked at the setup for Roles... And it appears that I can rename one or both groups (Registered User and Solar Experts) to something else (solar member, solar flunkie, solar penguin, etc...---Although, I think they have to have different names like Solar Member and SoIar Member "letter L vs Letter i" in "Solar/SoIar"). I can change the title from Registered to Expert on a per person basis (for McGivor, I changed his "label").

    The only difference that I know of in the software is that people with less than five posts are a bit more likely to be put in the "Moderation Queue" for me (moderators) to review (for "too many links", "too many attachments", a stricter spam filter). After 5 posts, every member has the same permissions and is generally immune from autospam filtering.

    We did put the number of posts each member has in the heading, and there is the "Star" ranking which is  based on the number of posts (and, it turns out, points--Now I have to see what a "point" is):

    NAMELABELCRITERIAABILITIES
    Level 1
    Level: 1
    		✭
    Level 2
    Level: 2
    		✭✭5 postsAdd: Verified
    Level 3
    Level: 3
    		✭✭✭50 pointsAdd: Verified
    Level 4
    Level: 4
    		✭✭✭✭100 pointsAdd: Verified
    Level 5
    Level: 5
    		✭✭✭✭✭500 pointsAdd: Verified
    Level 6
    Level: 6
    		✭✭✭✭✭✭1000 pointsAdd: Verified
    Hmmm... I don't know what the point system is... I have 647 points at the moment (and no stars--Points are visible in your profile, I think).

    Points, in major part, appear to be from "positive" reactions(?) (posts marked by members by Agree, Like, LOL). Possible some of the "badges" may have points too (I don't really look at my "badges"--Social media "hooks"?).

    https://vanillaforums.com/en/industry/gaming/
    Points
    A reputation system woven into the community.
    Anyways....

    Anyone have an opinion on "what next". We can do more (voting/ranking, possibly something else)--But that means I have to ask for some $$$ for Vanilla to tweak some stuff in the background (another field displayed, enable voting, etc.).

    My vote is everyone is a "solar member" or similar....

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • Estragon
    Estragon Registered Users Posts: 4,502 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #4
    I'm good with being a user/member or whatever... I'm certainly no kind of expert on much of anything.
    Off-grid.  
    Main system ~4kw panels into 2xMNClassic150 370ah 48v bank 2xOutback 3548 inverter 120v + 240v autotransformer
    Night system ~1kw panels into 1xMNClassic150 700ah 12v bank morningstar 300w inverter
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  • softdown
    softdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,963 ✭✭✭✭
    #5
    Interesting debate. Sometimes it takes an expert to really screw things up. Some of the largest construction failures have been designed by award winning architects and engineers. We all look at our personal experiences as a heavy contributor to our priorities. Those whose livelihood and reputation are based on their installations will have different priorities than the guy who wanted to live in the sticks then found no jobs that paid over $10/hour.

    Solar just isn't exciting enough for the normal user to spend many hours/week boning up on the latest theory and technology. Sadly, I have seen many stalwart posters of yesteryear fade into oblivion. I'd estimate that maybe 75% of posting is done by pros and maybe 10% is newbies trying to solve a problem. We all like to help the newbie but I'll be darned if 95% don't disappear after a couple posts. That is everywhere, not just here.

    We all have our pet priorities as well. Pros may favor safety for burned homes are certainly to be avoided. My current priority is cool batteries. It is hard to overestimate the value of cool batteries. 

    Am I a solar expert? I might have a good chance if I remembered everything. Plus I like to keep my toes dipped in a dozen pools at all times. What do you guys think of 4WD chromoly axle shafts versus trusses on axle housing? 

    What would make acetone heavy enough to sink to the bottom of a carburetor where the jets are? Seriously? 
    First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
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  • littleharbor2
    littleharbor2 Solar Expert Posts: 2,138 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #6
    As to Chromoly axle shafts , Great if you have a fire breathing monster under the hood and don't like snapping axles in high traction situations. Axle trusses only should be required on weak axle housings that are prone to flexing and bending. Chromoly axles won't help you there.

    2.1 Kw Suntech 175 mono, Classic 200, Trace SW 4024 ( 15 years old  but brand new out of sealed factory box Jan. 2015), Bogart Tri-metric,  460 Ah. 24 volt LiFePo4 battery bank. Plenty of Baja Sea of Cortez sunshine.

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  • softdown
    softdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,963 ✭✭✭✭
    #7
    littleharbor2 said:
    As to Chromoly axle shafts , Great if you have a fire breathing monster under the hood and don't like snapping axles in high traction situations. Axle trusses only should be required on weak axle housings that are prone to flexing and bending. Chromoly axles won't help you there.
    Lets try not to further derail the thread. Traction, tire size, and gearing are the equation they use for axle upgrades. My little 1.4 liter buggy has a trussed up 1 ton truck axle in the front. Driver technique is very important though anyone can have a moment of weakness.
    First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
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  • Photowhit
    Photowhit Solar Expert Posts: 6,017 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #8
    If you can arbitrarily change ones classification at some point, perhaps those with a 1000 replies could suggest their own classification? Such as;

    Sun Burnt
    Out in the sun to long
    Solarized (Photowhit, Solarized...get it)
    Tired and Old
    Old and in the Way (I used that somewhere)


    Home system 4000 watt (Evergreen) array standing, with 2 Midnite Classic Lites,  Midnite E-panel, Magnum MS4024, Prosine 1800(now backup) and Exeltech 1100(former backup...lol), 660 ah 24v Forklift battery(now 10 years old). Off grid for 20 years (if I include 8 months on a bicycle).
    - Assorted other systems, pieces and to many panels in the closet to not do more projects.
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  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #9
    I like sun burnt

    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,

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  • NANOcontrol
    NANOcontrol Registered Users Posts: 280 ✭✭✭
    #10
    I have a hard time thinking of technology as a popularity contest. Number of posts has nothing to do with being right.  But, evidently I am wrong.  "Open box" videos on youtube get 17,000 views and anything technical gets only a dozen. I'd like to see the post counts eliminated. That will get rid of those just out for glory and we can focus on content.
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  • Estragon
    Estragon Registered Users Posts: 4,502 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #11
    Cat videos get lots of views/likes. All that means is people like cats.

    If a technical post gets a dozen of the right views, mission accomplished.
    Off-grid.  
    Main system ~4kw panels into 2xMNClassic150 370ah 48v bank 2xOutback 3548 inverter 120v + 240v autotransformer
    Night system ~1kw panels into 1xMNClassic150 700ah 12v bank morningstar 300w inverter
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  • jonr
    jonr Solar Expert Posts: 1,386 ✭✭✭✭
    #12
    I haven't seen it here, but elsewhere I've seen usually wrong people who will argue endlessly.   Some way of marking these users is useful (so new users know not to listen to them).    Ie, if multiple, experienced users mark someone as "lunatic", that means something.

    I am available for custom hardware/firmware development

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  • softdown
    softdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,963 ✭✭✭✭
    edited July 2018 #13
    jonr said:
    I haven't seen it here, but elsewhere I've seen usually wrong people who will argue endlessly.   Some way of marking these users is useful (so new users know not to listen to them).    Ie, if multiple, experienced users mark someone as "lunatic", that means something.

    Ah yes, some "fringe lunatics" from the past: 
    da Vinci
    Einstein
    Newton
    Galileo Galilei
    Archimedes
    Tesla
    Mozart
    Michelangelo
    Pythagoras
    Kepler
    Copernicus
    Jesus
    Well...you get the point

    Mankind does love their cozy little cliques of mediocrity.

    It is confusing enough for the newbie without having to decipher various comedic angles. Though it is certainly possible that "solar expert" may be earned a bit prematurely at times.




    First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
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  • stmar
    stmar Solar Expert Posts: 373 ✭✭✭
    #14
    Lol, I laughed when I saw my "Solar Expert" designation. Far from it. I was comfortable with my system but not even close to expert status, look at some of the questions I ask or ask a member I PM. Then my inverter blows and I have to get a new one and the technology has changed to the point that I feel like I am starting over. Mine can be changed to "Trying Alternative" because believe me it is very "trying" at times.
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