In order to optimize power usage from his home solar panels, Frederick put a Raspberry Pi + Unicorn Hat to work as a custom energy monitor. Now he knows whether he’s taking from or giving back to the grid.
We recently had a digital electricity (and gas) meter installed by Fluvius. In order to make more efficient use of our solar power, I installed a little dongle from HomeWizard to the P1 port of the meter. Using an app, it is possible to monitor electricity taken from or pushed to the grid. The idea is then to use the bigger appliances (dishwasher, washing machine, etc … ) when there is leftover solar power available, rather than push it to the grid.
Code and a full explanation of the install process are available here.
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Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
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Python for Microcontrollers – Adafruit Daily — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: Open Hardware is In, New CircuitPython and Pi 5 16GB, and much more! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi
EYE on NPI – Adafruit Daily — EYE on NPI Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey
