Solar Witch
Infrastructure
self-hosted server
SHOW HN2022
How HN took it
13 positive, 13 neutral or asking, 1 mixed, 6 critical, out of 33 comments about the project. Thread score +0.15.
Idea: 8 for, 1 againstPerformance: 1 for, 3 againstExecution: 1 for, 1 againstDesign: 2 for, 0 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Fits a broader interest in less always-on internet
From 2 comments
I like the idea of websites which _aren't_ constantly available. Websites which have to sleep too. I'm with you. It reminds people that the internet is made up in people, not…
reaperducer on HN> I like the idea of websites which _aren't_ constantly available. Websites which have to sleep too. The local state unemployment office website will only let you complete some…
duxup on HN
Objections
Server crashes under light load, not production-ready
From 2 comments
The 'micro' http/tcp/ip stacks on microcontrollers tend to be based on lwIP, which in the default configuration can only handle a single connection at a time. That means if…
londons_explore on HNSure, but - and I say this with considerable respect because it in no way detracts from the impressiveness of the work - that's clearly a bug, and I would hope most production…
yjftsjthsd-h on HN
Solar power is too unpredictable for reliable servers
From 1 comment
Solar energy is too unpredictable and can't serve as a reliable source of power. We should be thinking about servers running on nuclear power.
Andrew_nenakhov on HN
Unclear practical application
From 1 comment
Cool idea, but what is the practical application?
HardwareLust on HN
Requests
Run it on Rust or other modern stacks
From 1 comment
Will it ever be able to run rust code :-)
leaflets2 on HN
Power and panel size figures
From 1 comment
Very cool project. I'm really intrigued by this idea of having websites reflecting geographic location, and even local weather conditions (with some lag). What's the peak and…
saeranv on HN
Questions
What is the power consumption and panel size?
From 1 comment
Very cool project. I'm really intrigued by this idea of having websites reflecting geographic location, and even local weather conditions (with some lag). What's the peak and…
saeranv on HN
Does plain HTTP make more sense for caching when asleep?
From 1 comment
With solar powered servers like this, I wonder if plain HTTP could make more sense than HTTPS. With a long cache expiration, the website could be served by public HTTP caches…
divbzero on HN
Alternatives named
Low Tech Magazine solar site
From 2 comments
- The maker's post
A similarly inspired project - https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com (and the power data - https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/power.html )
shagie on HN
Gossips Cafe
From 1 comment