A Traffic Light For Solar Powered Laundry

When the panels on the roof produce more than the house consumes, the surplus goes to the grid. It is worth more to me if I use it right away.

So I built a dashboard that tracks production and consumption live, driven by an ESP32, a small cheap microcontroller, together with ESPHome and Home Assistant, the software running my house.

The result is deliberately simple: a traffic light that tells me whether now is a good moment to run the washing machine or dryer, or whether it is better to wait.

Reading a number is optional. Glancing at a colour takes a second.