Disclosure · Updated September 2026
I earn a commission when you buy hardware through certain links on this site. That's an affiliate relationship, and it's disclosed here and next to every link where it applies.
I choose what to recommend before I have any relationship with the company that makes it. I test the hardware, verify the manufacturer's claims against primary sources, and decide if it's worth recommending on its own merits. Only after that do I look into whether an affiliate program exists. If a company doesn't offer one, I still recommend the product if I believe in it. The commission never decides what makes the list.
No company can pay to be reviewed, pay for a better ranking, or pay to have criticism softened or removed. If I find a problem with a product, I say so, commission or not.
I'm not employed by and don't officially represent any manufacturer I write about. My research and my opinions are my own. No company reviews or approves what I publish before it goes live.
Certifications, specifications, and performance numbers get checked against primary sources, not just the manufacturer's own claims about them. For certifications specifically, that means checking the certifying body's own database, not a badge or a line of marketing copy. I also check official datasheets and go directly to manufacturers when public information is unclear or contradicts itself. It usually does, more than you'd think.
When two sources disagree and I can't resolve it, I don't guess. Uncertain figures stay out of the site until I can verify them.
Why this matters here
Von Amend exists to prove that an ordinary person can do plug-in solar themselves, using information the rest of the industry doesn't share. That's the reason the site exists. A commission check doesn't change it.
Independently researched. Honestly told.