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Lots of recalls of solar panel DC disconnect switches
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Siwastaja:

--- Quote from: soldar on June 02, 2019, 09:25:01 pm ---Wikipedia:
--- Quote ---although the number of workplace suicides at Foxconn is large in absolute terms, the suicide rate is actually lower when compared to the overall suicide rate of China[33] or the United States.[34]
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If this quote is true, it completely discredits the whole thing. Which is, of course, unsurprising.

According to the Wikipedia numbers, Foxcon employees killed themselves over 10 times less often than average Chinese people, during the worst year. This is a huge reduction!

Of course, it makes perfect sense - it's to be expected that having a workplace reduces depression, stress, and suicide.

People really suck in understanding statistical aspects. In a similar way, we totally freak out if 100 people die simultaneously in an airplane accident, but are really comfortable and fine if 10000 people die in car accidents. Similarly, if employees of a massive company kill themselves less often than the non-employees of said company, instead of giving them a prize due to reducing suicide, we totally freak out for completely irrational reasons. Again, no one gives a shit if people commit suicides at 100x the Foxconn rate (or 10x the general public rate) if they work in small sweatshops.
soldar:
The suicide of a person who commits suicide in America would not be linked to the workplace unless they go back to the workplace with a gun and kill a few people first, which happens with appalling regularity.

In China, it is customary for factories to provide housing to their workers. So a young girl from the country goes to Shenzhen and applies for a job and the moment she gets a job she has all the infrastructure of her life in place as she has dorm housing and company cafeteria for meals. This arrangement means great flexibility for workers because they don't have to be concerned with finding housing and living arrangements. It is a bit like enrolling in the army. They are ready to work and produce the day they arrive. And they can leave and go elsewhere with no notice and not have to worry about leases, etc.

In China any suicide of a factory line worker is going to be on company property because that is where workers live 24/7. The cause of the suicide may have nothing to do with work. It may be depression, it may be family matters, it could be an amorous breakup. I do not think bad working conditions would be a cause for suicide because if a worker is unhappy with working conditions they always have the option of going elsewhere to work or going home. I think suicides are caused by more emotional things and by depression. This is already being discussed in another thread. 

China has an authoritarian culture everywhere which has a good side and a bad side. I have no doubt that some young girls may face abuse from their supervisors and not know how to deal with it. It is easy to see she can just leave or be firm but young people, especially women, can be easily manipulated and abused.

Foxconn made the news because they are big and because they produce for big, well known American companies like Apple and HP which are targeted by Social Justice Warriors.   It is not difficult for any group with a cause to spin statistics to support their cause.
floobydust:
‘I personally think that being able to work 996 is a huge blessing ... How do you achieve the success you want without paying extra effort and time?’ Jack Ma  :-DD
Nauris:

--- Quote from: bdunham7 on June 02, 2019, 07:23:18 pm ---
Perhaps, like many other things, they are simply cheaper here.  I believe at the time, the specific microinverter I used cost me about $150 per unit, with the solar panels perhaps double that.  Now, the exact same microinverter is still available, at $50 per unit.  So for 30 panels, new inverters would cost me $1500 and some work. That seems pretty cheap to me, considering you don't need any high voltage wiring, disconnects, etc.  And of course, the inherent reliability and self-diagnostics is a huge plus.

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Now that is a very cheap price indeed! Here the enphase is like triple price and chinese dual panel inverters only marginally cheaper.
But are you sure it is not an SolarEdge system with their per panel optimizers? I think they are quite widely used in USA and about that price.


--- Quote from: Siwastaja on June 02, 2019, 07:23:18 pm ---Would have thought that the microinverter price issue would have been solved already as it isn't a new fancy thing anymore, but apparently, no. I was actually thinking about getting into solar power conversion business years ago but decided not to, seeing there's a lot of design effort and a lot of competition to make a mainstream system.

From system design viewpoint, it shouldn't be that much more expensive, or even cheaper, but it will take time until the "premium" tag wears off, designs are optimized for low cost, and volumes get there. But usually, in distributed systems, volumes are no problem since each system uses many.

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String inverter cost is like from 70 to below 30 euros per 285W panel depending on size. It is tought price point for microinverters, especially the lower end. First take the vat off that price then consider it needs some watertight enclosure, some connectors and so on. There is not much money left for actual power electronics. And to the top off that it should last like 15 years at least in a very hot place beneath the panel but above the roof.
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