Hi everyone! I wanted to share a successful project I’ve been working on to maximize the use of solar energy in my home. Since installing solar panels (SolarEdge inverter), my goal has been to use as much of the generated solar power as possible, as the feed-in tariff I receive isn’t very favorable.
The key to self-consumption is using the energy you generate, ideally no more than that. I’ve found Home Assistant to be a fantastic tool for managing this. Here’s how I’ve set it up:
- Tracking Power Flow: I monitor both the exported and imported power from the grid. This is the main trigger for my automations.
- Rolling Average Sensor: I created a sensor (
sensor.average_export) that averages the power flow over the last 3 minutes. This helps smooth out any fluctuations. - Automation Logic: The automation checks the average power flow and adjusts the AC temperature accordingly:
- If importing power (positive value), it slightly lowers the target temperature to reduce AC usage.
- If exporting power (negative value below -1000W), it slightly raises the target temperature to increase AC usage and consume more solar power.
This setup ensures that the AC works in harmony with my solar generation, adjusting its usage based on real-time power flow. I’m really happy with the results and would love to hear how others are optimizing their solar self-consumption!
Let me know if you’d like more details or the actual code snippets I used!