In the beautiful Energy dashboard, we should have a real easy accessible automation for using excess solar energy.
Currently we as noob users have to fiddle way too much.
Thus:
Variable could be the amount of power. Eg:
Thanks !
You can create one template sensor to calculate the “excess” and then use it in automation. I’m not sure how much simpler it can be. Only shortcoming is that templates can’t be create via UI yet.
I guess it can’t be so simple and universal that it is a point to automatically create such sensor. For example you may have a battery and then first prefer to charge that but for instance after 50% is charged you still continue but now consider this energy already excess for some other means (time to turn cooling more aggressive for instance).
hi Couger,
Well, not being in the GUI is such a big miss for a lot of the mainstream users. In my search for such a simple action, I did not find anything about templates.
I believe that this does need to be universal, at the moment a solar energy installation is detected by HA…
So in my opinion, this is exactly such a WTH scenario.
Here is an add-on that can help to maximize your solar production/consumption… but it is not as easy as you think because it is linked with a lot of factors: energy cost evolution during the day, solar production forecast vs real production, available consumption sources and corresponding power and so on… And one case is not another… This add-on is using the linear programming technique (well known in automation) and can be used to plan how to use your excess of solar production… Enjoy !
I did see this one already, but with WTH in mind: it should be easy for mainstream otherwise people don’t even start using it…
It looks like something the world needs to be a better place!
I guess this is custom?
Not custom, just started with an empty automation and added the relevant entries.
The new GUI automation editor makes these simpler…
When starting a new automation, we need to set a trigger as in your example.
Lot’s of choices, but no ‘Solar/ energy’ choice?
Where did you get the ‘excess solar’ in the first trigger?
I guess this must be a custom value?
Just to make one thing very clear:
In no way I intend to piss of other peoples hard work. This community is brilliant, but:
Whenever I speak to people of different classes and professions, everybody agrees that with current energy crisis and prices each and everything will help. Everybody loves projects like home-assistant and what you can do with it. However, for 90% of the people it is still too complicated. The Energy dashboard is a big leap with that in mind. It is easy, no technical or programming knowledge required, and insight is provided directly. Exactly that method is required for those millions of peoples currently hesitating.
If a small part of this community can contribute to these cases, on a large scale these things will ‘matter’.
Just think about the scenario where billions of households worldwide deliver 1-10 Kw less electricity to the grid, and how much savings this would make on a global scale for these electricity networks, and how much that would save on energy prices.
Just dreaming with my head in the clouds…
Yeah it’s annoying and you will see the “how much easier can it be” responses all through WTH. People seem to get very defensive or think everyone is at their level of understanding… But as I always say, “you don’t know what you don’t know”.
Maybe we should rename WTH to WTP…(What’s the point) of bringing it up only to be shot down in flames by now knowledgeable members and moderators.
I’m on this journey myself.
Currently using a template sensor to take the house usage off the solar.
Thought process is to create an automation based off this value. I’m fortunate enough that there is a great integration with the Tesla API and so I can control the charge rate on the car.
Looking at scaling this as the solar excess changes and leaving my car plugged in on the drive to soak up any extra power during the day.
I agree an entity of Solar Surplus baked into home assistant would be awesome. Anything that avoids writing code into yaml files should be celebrated as a step towards being user friendly.
Don’t be put off making suggestions. Its the community of people striving to make this platform the best it can be that is so great. 
For everybody still looking for a solution, I implemented a pretty extensive PV / solar excess automation which can be configured via blueprints: PV / Solar Excess Optimizer: Auto-control appliances (wallbox, dish washer, heatpump, ...) based on excess solar power
I think you missed the point… We can all create templates.
I think what Ronnie is aiming at is to control loads in a varying way depending on available Surplus.
I have 5 heaters here of various ratings
This has been something I have wanted for years, other than Automatic Sockets which were very hit and miss as well as manual methods.
Solar Surplus varies, loads need to vary in line with the available Surplus plus a ‘tolerance’ as to Import in order to keep a heater running, An example, 1500w of surplus running a 1800w heater, do you switch off the heater and loose 1500w where adding a little Grid (300w) would give 1800w of heat for the cost of 300w Grid.
Then adding, more heaters of varying wattages. 1500w Surplus you could run 2x 750w heaters, but what happens if the Surplus increases, how do you turn off the 2x 750 heaters in favour of the 1800w heater. Beyond this, Solar increases for 2500w, selecting the best combination of which heater to switch on and do you allows a little Grid in order to ‘keep then on’ To use 2x 750w and an 1800w - does it switch on 1x 1800 and 1x 750w and allow 50w of Grid for the benefits of 2550 of heat for 50w of Grid.
Yes, we can make on/off templates, but adding intelligence and tolerances the most efficient use of Surplus to avoid excess Gris Export but at the same time, allow decisions as to how much Grid is willing to be bought in to maintain heaters.
Therefore, it gets a complicated and well beyond the realms of many.
A solution needs to be variable depending on the Surplus and a way to set a tolerance, maybe in a %. Say, if 5kw of heaters are running, to allow 500w of Grid to maintain is good value for money.
So, with 5 heaters
A: 450w - B: 750w - C: 750w - D: 1000 - E: 2000
Which gets switched on in order to maximise the usage of Surplus energy depending on the availability of a varying quantity? How much are you willing to Import to maintain the Heaters running? What happens in Surplus increases and what happens when it falls off as it is getting late in the day or a cloud has appeared? Which get priority?
Which heaters and how much Grid to maintain in these ranges:
1250w of Surplus? (D: + A: buy in 250w) or (A: + B: loose 50w)
3250 of Surplus?
2700 of Surplus?
500w Surplus?
900w of Surplus?
1950w of Surplus?
Each has many options and a little more than a simple template I’d suggest.
EMHASS, mentioned earlier, will optimally load balance multiple deferrable loads in your case 5 heaters. Taking into account current and forecast solar production, household load and buy/ sell prices.
In my case I use it to optimise home battery, EVx2 charging, pool, hot water and HVAC. Here is my plan for tomorrow:
Thanks Mark…
I’ll take a look into this…
I’m hoping to replace Wattson Sockets which are crude but did enable most Surplus to be converted into heat with a fully integrated and intelligent HA solution.
The frustration with them ‘hogging’ due to being ‘dumb’. The only way to optimise them was to hope for a cloud or briefly switch on the oven to ‘knock-them-off’ then let them switch back on hoping the bigger loads came on first - sometimes I’d watch 1000watts exported as one needed 1200w available but as there was a 350w already switched on, thus preventing the higher load coming on. Logic was to knock off the 350w load to allow the 1000w fan heater to start - there was no choice to contribute some Grid or battery to maintain. If switching a 1kw heater required 150w of Grid then its a small price to pay for the benefits but wasn’t possible.
They worked in a fashion but time now for something better.
Since 2018 until 2023 we used Lead Acid batteries that provided 4kwh overnight as 500w baseload contribution. That Inverter smoked itself early '22, having waited 9 months for a Solis Hybrid due to global shipping, finally went live with 15kwh Lithium April 23. Last summer we imported just 100kwh of Grid until September and October added a second 15kwh battery.
Most the energy we are now storing and using as house load. We’ve since picked up an EV and at the annual Solar cycle point of enough for the house and 50% of the car so little Surplus has yet been available so far. The argument for larger battery being Gas is 7p/kwh and Electricity is currently 24p/kwh. Although this year we’ve not had the ‘heater’ Surplus we’ve been used to as we’re able now to maximise this to offset Electricity costs.
This year we have burnt more Gas than the last 6yrs but for each 1kwh at 19p saved as consumable electricity, covers the cost of 3.6kwh Gas at 7p - effectively the electricity we are generated covered most of the heating costs.
We will soon get to 100% house/ 100% car and Surplus will then be used for supplementary heating as about to increase Solar from 6kwp to 8kwp, hopefully giving more for Surplus heating February and March / September and October.
We’re using Seplos Mason packs and absolutely over the moon with both operation and the price over other options.
This year looking to automate night Off-Peak Winter charging, to take higher charge night before a Storm forecasted arrives and ensure we never use Day-Rate along with auto charge the car with rest to Surplus as heating. The biggest being to dump batteries to EV overnight to free up capacity for when a good day Solar forecasted.
HA as you’ll aready know sure is a learning curve…
Thanks again…
