This is a Community

If you want to take part in this community, you should recognize that we're all interested in a common goal: renewable, decentralized and safe energy production. Thus you are asked to treat the members of this community and the topics in this forum with respect.

• You can disagree with others but you should always do it based on facts and arguments.
• Insults and ad hominem will automatically disqualify you as a participant in a discussion. If this happens repeatedly, your account will be deleted and you will be permanently banned from the forum.
• The deliberate posting of fake news, spam, adult content, off-topic content (especially of political nature), doxing (publication of other people's private information), impersonation or inappropriate advertising will cause an immediate ban from the community. This also applies to links to such content.
• You may not post descriptions of, links to, or methods for stealing someone’s intellectual property (text, software, video, audio, images), or for breaking any other law.
• We want to allow the expression of a great variety of views. Nontheless, there is such a thing as hate speech. While the exact definition is debatable, the judgement of the moderators is not. Moderators reserve the right to remove any content and any user account for any reason at any time.
• Admit to being wrong! If you come to the conclusion that you erred in any of your points, just come clean. Don't try to wiggle around it and go "but you also...". Own it and move on like a grown up.

In short: Just act like a decent human being!

Improve the Discussion

In all your activities in this forum you should always aim to improving the discussion in some way, however small. This can be a question that noone has thought of yet, an insight that noone has had before or new ideas for solving a specific issue. 

Some examples on what is NOT improving the discussion:

• Posting questions that have already been answered sufficiently elsewhere or that can be answered by a simple online search. 
• Putting forth arguments that are purely based on sentiments and have no proof or even can't be proven or disproven by facts.
• Moving away too far from the topic of the thread. People click on a specific topic to read about this topic.
• Writing before thinking. 

Logically, you should instead:

• search the forum before starting a new topic. It might have been discussed / answered already.
• Ask yourself if there is proof for what you're claiming or if it might be the result of a misconception. Name and link the sources for your statements as often as possible.
• start a new topic if the discussion in the old one leads in a new direction. You can put a link to the new topic it in the old one, so people who are interested can follow it.
• take your time to reflect on your post. Only write what you would like to read if it was directed to yourself.  Not every thought has to be expressed, especially not immediatelly. When in doubt, consult these guidelines.

In short: Be an asset to the community!

If You See Something, Say Something

As a member of a community, everyone is responsible for the upkeep of this platform. The forum is moderated, but only by voluntary workers who have other responsibilites in their lives as well.

So: When you come across a violation of the guidelines, let the moderators know by just flagging it. Don’t engage yourself! This only encourages the bad behavior by acknowledging it, consumes your energy, and wastes everyone’s time. Just flag it. You wouldn't be the first white knight that makes a situation worse. If enough flags accrue, action will be taken, either automatically or by moderator intervention.

Again: In order to maintain our community, moderators reserve the right to remove any content and any user account for any reason at any time. 

In short: Take some responsibility for this community