[RELEASE] Solar Forecast/Estimator

⚙️ Custom Apps and Drivers
1

UPDATED - Nov 2021
I found the forecast.solar API to be inaccurate, and as such I will not be doing any more work on that driver. I switched to the Solcast API. You can find the Solcast driver below.

https://github.com/ke7lvb/Solcast

5 Likes
2

It seems to be very usefull driver. However Im getting this error:
2022-03-16 13:14:58.915 errorgroovy.lang.MissingMethodException: No signature of method: com.hubitat.hub.executor.LogWrapper.deubg() is applicable for argument types: (java.lang.String) values: [[{"pv_estimate":0.1359,"pv_estimate10":0.0602,"pv_estimate90":0.2339,"period_end":"2022-03-16T12:30:00.0000000Z","period":"PT30M"}......

Continuing much further. Any hint how to fix this? API key as well site ID is inserter correctly, Im able to get response from http address that driver is requesting in logs (https://api.solcast.com.au/rooftop_sites/f8c5-XXXX-9667-XXXX/forecasts?format=json&api_key=JYUIXXXXXg1R0O5GXXXXX9279XXXXX5j) key and site ID changed to not expose it in public.

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Looks like a Typo slipped in. It was only an issue when debug logging was enabled, but I have updated the driver. Should be fixed now.

2 Likes
4

Perfect, it works. Thank you. It will be used on freshly build solar battery management. If there will be enough power next day, I can discharge this add-on battery to use the production excess.

5

may I please have some help
I am getting this error messge

groovyx.net.http.HttpResponseException: status code: 404, reason phrase: Not Found on line 78 (method refresh)

thanks

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I just tried it and substituted my api_key (from Solcast) and resource_id (location from Solcast) and it works.

I'm assuming you have done the following?

  • Create a free account with Solcast
  • Add your Site ID and API key to the virtual device

You may want to double check your api_key and site_id by logging into your account.

7

thanks. working now.
has mistaken the API key with API address

1 Like
8

This is great. I just signed up for Solcast and installed the driver. The estimates do seem fairly close to accurate.

One question though: On the driver screen I see these attributes:

  • 24 Hour Peak Production : 12.866
  • 48 Hour Peak Production : 12.866
  • 1 Hour Estimate : 7499.3000
  • 72 Hour Peak Production : 12.866
  • one_hour_estimate : 7499.3000
  • energy : 96.42745
  • power : 96427.45000
  • 48 Hour Estimate : 173.20130
  • 72 Hour Estimate : 226.82175

So basically I see a 1 hour estimate, and then 48 hour estimate, and then 72 hour estimate. Is there a way to see a 24 hour estimate?

I do see a 24 hour "peak production" value, but not a 24 hour estimate.

I just thought I'd ask if II was missing something obvious before I started messing with the code.

Thanks,
-Jeremy

9

Power and Energy are the 24 hour estimates.

You have a much larger system than I do :slight_smile:

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Thanks, that makes sense now.

My system is 17.36kW and I'm adding another 6kW (Along with a 15kWh battery built myself from raw cells) for my well house. Once that's done I'll be up to a little over 23 kW total. One of the things I'm trying to accomplish is having 100% of our water pumping (We have a well) handled via solar. So I want to use the solar forecast to drive whether or not the irrigation system runs. If the forecast says we'll have enough sun to pump that much water: Run the irrigation. Otherwise skip a day.

I was about to write my own driver for this and just happened to stumble onto this. This is great. Thanks :slight_smile: