I use sense+solar and actively (look at many times a day). And firstly let me say I love the product.
I’ve noticed 2 improvements that would be awesome (in my opinion):
the Net Production stats/calculations are just wrong when you switch to timeframes other than Daily. See picture.
it would be great to be able to see graphing of an “average” for a day over the period of time selected.
Example/Use Case 1: select timeframe of “year” see a graph of 1 day’s average solar production and usage by time of day in the normal day bar chart graph style that already exists in “graphs” so that you could see if the current day is on pace to be above or below average - would be useful for comparing times of year to average. The calculation would be to just take the hourly aggregation data that already exists in the graph view and average it over the last .
Should be all existing data, just a different slice to look at.
I also wish there was a way to see the actual % of your usage and bill you are making instead of the current. 0-100% then the excess doesn’t show up. Some days that my production is higher than my usage… might show “Powered by solar = 30%” I understand the calculation but I would like the option to see 107%. It would also be nice if the if our own solar production showed up in the carbon intensity.
Their “46%” means… 46% of the time. If your making 9500 and using 500 your sending 9000 watts back to the grid for that time period your “100%” and not 1800% if your using 500 and making 250, your 50%.
This math is kind of like for a grid tied system that you are not sending anything back to the grid. Then you would be 46% powered by solar.
I’m wondering if you added solar after you already had your base Sense in action for a while ? I agree that something is wrong - your From Grid and To Grid should differ by the Net Production value. My solar, net and grid numbers all line up for every time period for me.
Yes - solar activated in late August but had sense since February.
!!!
Didn’t mean to distract from my main request which is Average day graphing over a selected time period with a current day overlay.
!!!
But on the defect side:
The calculation just doesnt seem to adjust in this case. The math doesnt add up and the 46% just couldnt possibly be right since i havent even produced a total of 46% of my yearly consumption (more like 20%)
The calculation should be as simple as:
“powered by solar” = (“production”-“to grid”)/“usage”
In essence how close are you to being grid independent….
Alternatively (and should get same outcome)
1-(“from grid” / “usage”) = “powered by solar”
In my case - the incorrectness all stems from the “from grid” being 5500 when it should be more like 9500.
@ccook i think you’re actually misunderstanding the calculation. You’ll never get over 100% on powered by solar because that value is a representation of grid independence. If you produce more than you use the “net production” will be over 100% - mine is often around 300%.
The “powered by solar” when looking at a particular day is almost always very low for me though because we consume the most power in the early morning (before work) and late evening (after work) when the sun isn’t up. So i produce a bunch that basically goes to the grid, and i consume mostly from the grid - my powered by solar is quite low, but my net production is high.
Basically what that tells me is - to achieve grid independence i would require a battery to store produced power.
The 46% is derived correctly, though from the bad number. 1 - (5588.9/10,273.4) x 100%. That’s 1 minus the percentage of Total Usage that comes from the grid.
BTW - I like your wishlist suggestion and have “hearted” since that’s what Sense looks at for guidance on Wishlist item popularity.
I understand what the 2 numbers are and what each mean. But when you click on trends… you’ll see powered by solar right on that page. I’m not sure the how useful this particular stat is for most users. It’s not really to see if you could be independent without the grid unless your trying to be independent with solar without batteries. Users who run off batteries at night but still grid tied (coupled) are the users I can see benefit from that type of a calculation. So mainly, I would like those screens to be more customizable… like a widget I would personally like to see my net production there since the “powered by solar” is kinda of a weird stat for me since I have a flat tariff rate.
Yup - agree - that tile widget should be swapable for net production.
(In the battery scenario it would still work in the “powered by solar” calculation as long as the battery is closer to the panels than the sense clamps )
I too have a flat tariff and an annual reconciliation so the calculation for percent powered by solar doesn’t make much sense in my context. I like @rlavorgn suggestion to have the ability to swap the widget. Maybe make the “% Powered by Solar” calculation a config option in the solar setup.
