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- This topic has 44 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 3 years, 6 months ago by
JayCeeDee.
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July 3, 2022 at 11:49 am #69686
When you are building an information board or ‘Magic Mirror’ it is often useful to include local weather data or a forecast for (say) Perth cricket ground. Such data is available on the web, but often needs a subscription or has use restrictions.
This weather data from the Norwegian Weather Service is freely available and Bash-Script (or Python) friendly. It is based on Satellite data and works anywhere in the world to within a 1km grid – so if you look up the latitude and longitude for The WACA (-31.95 115.86 approx) you will be able to see if your prayers for rain will be granted!
curl -A “WACApp/0.1” -H ‘If-Modified-Since: Tue, 16 Jun 2020 12:11:59 GMT’ \ -s
https://api.met.no/weatherapi/locationforecast/2.0/compact?lat=-32.0&lon=116.0’|json_pp
The Info on getting data from the MET Norway is given here:
https://developer.yr.no/doc/GettingStarted/
Don’t forget to include the code snippet that stops your app soaking up Norway’s bandwidth!
July 7, 2022 at 10:41 am #69707That’s the weather source for the default weather integration in to Home Assistant. Seems to work reasonably well from what I’ve seen so far.
"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett
July 7, 2022 at 2:35 pm #69710Thanks, I have never tried Home Assistant but I will now!
July 8, 2022 at 8:45 pm #69724It’s great – I use it to bring my smart devices together under one app. But the data collection aspect is the aspect I’ve embraced the most – I’ve linked it to my smart meter so it’s showing me my energy usage across the day – I’m also looking forward to getting my solar panels and linking them to the system as well.
It also gets wife seal of approval as she only has to do the one app now for controlling lights and other devices!
"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett
July 9, 2022 at 12:03 am #69725….I’m also looking forward to getting my solar panels
Best thing we ever did!! We had ours installed early March and we worked out ( in Jan/Feb ) that it would save us money, difficult to pin down a number for that as it was changing all the time and our fixed plan wasn’t ending till April. We found that £5k in the bank was earning us 10 – 12p a month interest. It turned out that £5k on our roof saved us £1 a day, by using what we were generating, with a surplus left over. That surplus is also currently ( pun intended ) giving us £34 a month in export payments.
In hindsight we should also have got batteries fitted but we were taking easy steps and it was another £3.5 – £5k on top of the panels depending on which size/brand.
We switched to Octopus as they had the best export payment at 7.5p, but if we had stored the excess generated after what we were using, each unit then used would have saved 30p. Those numbers are a no brainer!!
If you have an EV it opens up a whole world of opportunity. The big thing to look for is bi-directional charging. V2H,V2GandV2L are all really exciting. EV’s just need to become more affordable, ( and available at the moment ) did their popularity really catch all the manufacturers asleep at the wheel??
July 9, 2022 at 7:38 am #69726Yesterday was the first really sunny day around here which resulted in our Solar generating more than we use. We took full advantage of it and trickle charged the car for about six hours – roughly 15 units or about 60 miles range. Unfortunately we would need a much more sophisticated PV controller with a ‘smart’ outlet that only trickle charged any surplus to use the car as a bi-directional house battery.
Incidentally if you ever install a battery for your house think twice before using an LG battery. LG’s support and customer service stinks – it has taken them three months just to send a shipping box from Germany to take back for inspection an under-warranty, 6 years old, dead battery.
Tesla now look much more attractive battery provider and offer a full house UPS as an option. (Every battery ‘could’ do this but Electricity providers demand a certified switching system to ensure that in the event of a line failure their workers are not electrocuted by the battery feeding back into the system.). However, its worth checking how they too service their warranty.
July 9, 2022 at 5:02 pm #69734Unfortunately we would need a much more sophisticated PV controller with a ‘smart’ outlet that only trickle charged any surplus to use the car as a bi-directional house battery.
True – though the Zappi seems to be getting that way, but the most important thing is that the car needs to be Bi-directional too and that’s not a given across the industry at the moment. HERE. Just a couple of Nissans, some Hondas and Mitsubishis plus the top end Ford F150, with a promise that VW’s are ‘coming later this year. The main concern is over battery degradation, by adding more charge/discharge cycles to an already finite number, although if it can be programmed to keep within the 18% – 80% band there is thinking that that may have less of an effect.
A little moot though as anything more than niche adoption on trials or the like, general wisdom puts it to be at least 5 years away from mainstream, if not 10.
These are the sort of things that Governments worldwide should be getting their heads around instead of leaving it to industry and the ‘marketplace’. Having said that though, maybe Governments should finance industry as they don’t have the best track record with technology!!!
July 9, 2022 at 5:25 pm #69735Yesterday was the first really sunny day around here which resulted in our Solar generating more than we use.
May generation averaged around 18kWh, June around 20kWh and so far in July around 22kWh. Our average daily consumption has been constant so far at 7.5kWh. Octopus has some great usage data on their website, albeit a beta setup, with data available for input to a spreadsheet. I also love playing around with the app for the panels – ShinePhone – which I have on the iPhone and the iPad. Unfortunately they do one for Android but not for browser or I’d have it on permanent display on one of the monitors.😟 The geek in me never seems to get old!!
July 9, 2022 at 9:45 pm #69737Unfortunately they do one for Android but not for browser or I’d have it on permanent display on one of the monitors.😟
From a quick Google, it would suggest that Home Assistant will sort you out there – they have a Growatt integration, allowing it to collect that data. Which appears to be the panels/inverter that feed in to Shinephone.
We should have done it last year when we had a quote but we delayed and now we’re in a 20 week queue. British Gas, our current supplier, fit our mains isolator next Saturday and then we await Eon to install. Only a 5.5p feed in tariff. However, I’ve taken a new job that will see me working from home 5 days a week, so the estimates that Eon drew us up will be wrong anyhow (assumed we would only use 27% – I think we’d have been higher than that anyhow, as my wife is home two days a week anyhow, so we had occupants in the house 4/7 days and they assumed 2/7).
We’ve omitted the batteries now as we didn’t want the ones that Eon would install (I don’t think they supported powering the house during a power cut) and we’ll see how we get on during the first 12 months or so and will likely then fit a battery if it looks worthwhile. Chances are after some further research, it could be worthwhile.
Our average use appears to be about 8kWh, so I’m hoping we’ll be OK – another Home Assistant plugin is able to estimate solar output and suggests that today we would have produced 17kWh.
"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett
July 9, 2022 at 10:55 pm #69738…and will likely then fit a battery if it looks worthwhile. Chances are after some further research, it could be worthwhile.
We missed out on a scheme provided by District and County Councils through SolarTogether which gave you the opportunity to go on a local list for solar panels or an add-on battery, at a discounted rate offered to the whole community. Once the list was compiled there would be a reverse auction to bid for the contract ( from MCS approved installers ) to provide the required services at a bulk discounted rate, if that makes sense. Keep an eye for a similar scheme in your area.
I have zero automation at home, but the panels do run through a Growatt inverter. Maybe getting that on the monitor would justify it’s use, I don’t know.
I will be getting CCTV cameras and an alarm shortly – I don’t know whether they might integrate into the Home Assistant, we’ll have to see whether one or the other justifies it’s use, without any automation.
It’s a shame you’re getting a soft hybrid instead of an EV as with your extra days at home you would have fully charged it with your excess daytime generated solar!!
July 10, 2022 at 7:53 am #69740We have (or rather ‘had’ a battery with our solar, and frankly I would now not install anything without one. When we installed the battery six years ago I estimated the return on investment as marginal, Even with today’s lower prices it probably still is in the low percents. It does however allow you to take full advantage of the power you get on the mixed cloud and sun days. The reason for this is that without a battery your PV controller will shunt all excess power to the grid, so you go fully on the grid when a cloud crosses the sun, and lose out the excess power when the sun comes out. We have very very few wall-to-wall sunshine days without clouds.
The other thing I would insist on are micro-inverters (i.e. an inverter for each panel) without that any shading of a single panel has a disproportionate effect on your generation. This is however a location/setup specific thing as pointed out in the link
July 10, 2022 at 10:26 am #69741Very true and I thought about this for us, however, we are detached, with a ‘pointy in the middle’ roof, so it was a challenge. Luckily, our back extension ( 5m x 3m ) has a flat roof. We have four panels on the sloping roof, forming one string, with two banks of three, mounted on sloping pods, on the flat roof, forming the second string. Most solar inverters have two strings inside.
There is almost zero shading of the panels, one small single chimney that is more of an old boiler outlet flue made to look like a chimney and we’ve had all the leylandii ( 30 +) that used to go across the garden halfway down, felled, so even in winter now, with the sun low on the horizon, the panels will get optimum sun.!!
Our garden is SW facing, so we miss a small part of the early morning sun but even now at 10am we’re generating 1.6kW.
Planning permission for new builds should in future only be granted if it includes solar generation. With modern technology you can’t even tell when a roof has been built using solar tiles. The economy of scale would soon bring the cost of these down. Subsidising the cost of this and solar additions to existing properties would surely be a better spend than cabling electricity generated on a Moroccan solar/wind farm under the sea to the UK!! Link. Not taking into account the fault liability of the odd French trawler bottom fishing or opportunistic terrorist.
July 10, 2022 at 8:45 pm #69748In an ideal world what you say JCD is true. Unfortunately you somehow need to get the single phase 240volt domestic generation out of your local transformer back into the 3 phase 132000 volt National Grid!
Excess domestic production can be a real problem and I believe even now causes problems in parts of Cornwall. A Yank friend of mine lives in Arizona and has to PAY to get rid of any excess power!
July 11, 2022 at 1:10 pm #69749A Yank friend of mine lives in Arizona and has to PAY to get rid of any excess power!
I’d find something to use the excess on – even if it was air-conditioning his garden!!!😲😲 Maybe even a charging station for EV’s – that’s if there are any in Arizona!!😜
July 11, 2022 at 1:33 pm #69750Only in America could this happen!! I was just browsing some info on solar farms and came across THIS article.
It must be the same thinking as Arizona.🙄
July 11, 2022 at 2:27 pm #69751To be fair the problem in Arizona is that solar production does not match typical usage. In Arizona most electricity is used in household air-con systems which are typically at max during the summer evening and night. There are also local ordinances against using such excess in unproductive ways. The cure is of course electricity storage but that costs money.
The quick fix has been a local(?) charge to encourage householders to stick in their own storage systems. I put in a question mark because I suspect that charges change with location/infrastructure.
July 11, 2022 at 3:20 pm #69752It really does need some focussed, co-ordinated thinking across County/National and State/National depending on which country you live, but we all know the likelihood of success with that, wherever you happen to be on this planet!! Unless that happens, all the good decisions made on one level, will be disrupted or negated at the other.
July 11, 2022 at 3:25 pm #69753True – that of course is another US problem they do not have a National Grid – smacks too much of socialism!
July 11, 2022 at 5:37 pm #69754😀😀
July 12, 2022 at 1:35 am #69757I don’t have much faith in the accuracy of weather forecasting. My wife’s Samsung tablet weather app & my weather radar
can be completely different. Even in a distance of 3 road miles between villages there is often a marked difference as to where the rain has fallen. One thing I have noticed is that if there is any rain Swindon will invariably get it.
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