Solar robotic skimmer

[Buggsw]

I did a search and did not find this anywhere here, but I ran across this product last night when researching something else.

I seem to recall some people asking about solar this or that and skimmer this or that, so I thought I would post the link here.
It's a solar robotic skimmer. http://www.solar-breeze.com/index.php

I don't know anything about them and have never even seen them locally, but they are made by a local company.

Just thought someone may be interested.

 

[polyvue]

* If the Solar-Breeze ever gets trapped in shadow during the day, and the motors are off, it means it has simply run out of battery power. There has not been enough sunlight to allow the unit to run, and it has no battery power left to get back into the sunlight. "Eventually" it will gather enough charge to move itself again, even from indirect light.

* When the Battery gets this low (after dark cloudy weather) it speeds up recovery considerably to lift Solar-Breeze out of the water, and manually place it in direct sunshine for a few hours, during the middle of the day. But, even if you don't do this, it will "eventually" manage to charge its batteries enough (with indirect light) to sneak back out of the shadow and obtain some direct sunlight to operate again. But, when batteries are extremely low on charge, and sunshine hours short, it may get stuck in shadows several times in a row with low batteries. (This is particularly likely in pools with lots of shade, and in the wintertime, when shadows are longer.)

* In the early morning and late afternoon, solar cells do not work well, sometimes not at all, as the sun's angle gets low. The sunlight reflects off the solar panels, without even penetrating inside. The same can happen during midwinter at high latitudes, when the sun just barely gets over the horizon. Solar cells produce maximum power when the sun is nearly directly overhead. Light that is indirect produces only very limited power. The Solar-Breeze can SLOWLY charge its batteries even in cloudy weather with indirect light. But the total operating time on a dark day might be relatively low....

:blah: (Source: Solar-Breeze)

This is either one of the most honest advertisements for a product I've ever read -- or the dumbest. Got to give them credit for tellin' it like it is, though!

 

[JohnT]

This is either one of the most honest advertisements for a product I've ever read -- or the dumbest. Got to give them credit for tellin' it like it is, though!

I have to say I have a good impression of the company from that info. I know that's how solar stuff works, but to see the company be upfront about it instead of hiding behind hype impresses me.