SolarTidbyt

Works with the SolarEdge inverters via the SolarEdge API, specifically the Overview and Site Info APIs, to display information on a Tidbyt

Data Shown

• Current energy generating in Watts
• Metric Tons of C02 equivalent
• Acres of forest to absorb that amount of Co2
• Blank frame [to get around an issue when published to a Tidbyt that the last frame is truncated from displaying.]

Example Display

Data Conversions

kWh -> CO2

The KWh to CO2 conversion is calculated as 0.92 pounds of CO2 per KWh as seen via the U.S. Energy Information Administration FAQ. Then multiply that by 0.000453592 to get Metric Tons per Google.

CO2 -> Acres of Trees

The CO2 to Acres of Trees conversion is calculated as 0.77 metric tons of CO2 absorbed per acre per year as seen via the EPA Greenhouse Gases Equivalencies Calculator - Calculations and References.

I'm a little worried I have this calculation wrong. My calculation is...

• 0.77 mt/acre/year * total_year_diff years = M mt/acre (lifetime)
• 1/(M mt/acre) = A acre/mt
• (A acre/mt) * mt = T total acres
• So... (1/(0.77*total_year_diff))*co2_metric_tons = total acres.

I think

Update: I've commented out the creation of this frame in the animation. It's hovering around 5.08 acres but going up and down which isn't right. I need to revisit my math. Until then it's removed.

Deploying to your Tidbyt

I'm running a cron job on a Raspberry Pi that calls a script. The script does the following:

1. Runs $ pixlet render solarlife.star
2. Runs $ pixlet push ......

Running once every 5 minutes so that current data generation is relatively up to date.

SolarEdge data on Twitter?

See my other project, solar3!