I have to be honest. I didn’t expect a reply (and definitely not this fast).
And since I don’t tend to log on often, this would’ve been buried in my messages at some point.
I have looked at your references as well as the webapp. Unfortunately it seems like the manufacturer is not included in the DB, which isn’t too bad now that I got to understand this system a bit more though. I guess I will have to search for a panel with similar electrical characteristics.
I must admit that “at least to me” it would make more sense to skip this “extra step” and just ask the user the required parameters directly. Most people that implement this solution will presumably know their panel name and be able to look up the parameters in the datasheet.
However, I also have to admit that I neither have the knowledge, time nor Endurance to actively develop such a system from scratch. Likely, as you stated, in one’s free time.
So I understand that if I want to use this software, I will have to adapt to the method chosen by the developer(s). I could propose ideas to improve the usability and intuitiveness of the software. But this would require a redesign and reevaluation of the entire project. Which isn’t feasible just for one person who spend just a few hours with this project up until this point. I have to live with what other people deem “a good solution” even if that’s “not a good solution” to other people.
One can’t complain about something for free, which I did out of frustration primarily driven by tiredness (quite late in my Timezone) which still isn’t an excuse, obviously.
I have the habit of implementing solutions in under a day with all my HA related projects. Which worked decently great up until now. This however will likely require reading every single word of the doc (multiple times) to extrapolate the meaning of certain configuration options.
I don’t particularly like this process as it reminds me of (Desktop vs Terminal). The Terminal is more powerful but requires n^10 times more understanding than an intuitive GUI, which takes seconds to do 60-80% the Terminal can.
Usually at this point i would readjust my needs and settle with an overpriced premade solution. But since not a single automation solution exists that ties in greatly with HA or costs 6 figures, this is the best solution.
It will require much more time though than initially anticipated. And considering the “inaccurate” quality of irradiance forecasts with low-frequency updates in “free tiers” the providers grant us, this whole efficiency boost gained becomes marginal at best, presumably.
Will I still do it, absolutely, otherwise I wouldn’t have started HA anyway because the time sunken into it would have sufficed to toggle a light switch manually until I’m a thousand years old.
This seems like a curse, until it works, eventually (hopefully).
Thank you for your kind and fast reply.