Hey everyone, I’ve been diving into some exciting projects lately, and I wanted to share my journey with you all. I’ve been using Home Assistant for a few years now, but recently, I decided to take it to the next level by integrating it with my newly installed photovoltaic system. The goal? To create a dynamic LED display that reflects my solar energy production in real-time.
Here’s what I’ve accomplished so far: I’ve connected an ESP32 board to some WS2812b addressable LEDs. The idea is to have the LEDs change color based on the amount of solar energy being produced. When the sun is shining brightly and the panels are generating a lot of energy, all the LEDs light up. But when the sun isn’t as strong, or when I’m using more power than I’m producing, fewer LEDs illuminate. It’s a cool way to visualize my energy consumption and production!
I’ve integrated the ESP32 into Home Assistant using the ESPHome integration. Setting up the LEDs was straightforward using the neopixelbus configuration. I can manually control them just like any other light entity in HA, which is great. But now, I want to take it a step further. I think I need to use a lambda function to import the solar energy value from HA as a sensor and then map it to the LED brightness. Honestly, I’m a bit stuck on how to implement this, but I’m excited to figure it out!
If anyone has experience with similar projects or can offer some guidance, I’d be thrilled to hear from you. Whether it’s advice on the lambda function or tips on optimizing the LED setup, I’m all ears. Let’s make this project a success together! 