Solar Home in Fairplay, Colorado

Home Automation
Tools:
I was first introduced to the Raspberry Pi as a gift in 2016. This is a tiny computer which runs on Linux. I use it as a webserver with database capability, a hotspot, to capture Outback solar data, and to run timed activities using python programs. While the raspberry pi can collect data from sensors, I have set up a variety of microcontrollers (even smaller computers) to get sensor data. I have mostly used the ESP8266 microcontroller which has WiFi. The data collected as described below is stored in a MySQL database and is available
on a variety of webpages on a Raspberry Pi webserver.

Temperature:
Several types of sensors are used for temperature and humidity including the master bedroom, kitchen, outside, the solar hot water tank, the battery box and more.

Solar Monitoring:
There is a serial connection between a Raspberry Pi 4 and the Outback Mate which captures the solar data. A lux sensor captures the solar illuminance level.

Webcams:
Webcams take pictures at timed intervals and can be seen on the webserver. A webcam of the front of the house shows the cloud cover and how much snow has fallen. Webcams also show the current values of the radon monitors.

Radiant Infloor Heater Control:
Can be controlled from the Control Devices webpage and will run at a certain setpoint temperature or manually. It is shut off in the evening with a timed python program.

Space Heater Control:
Can be controlled from the Control Devices webpage and will run in manual or automatic mode. In the automatic mode it will turn on if the solar charge controller is in Float (batteries are full). It is shut off in the evening with a timed python program.

Battery Box Fan Control:
While the batteries are charging they produce hydrogen gas which must be vented using the fan. Additionally, the fan is used to prevent the battery box from being too hot as higher temperatures are bad for battery life. The battery box fan can be controlled from the Control Devices webpage and will run in always off if battery V <52, automatic by battery box temperature, and always on modes. The fan is controlled by a relay attached to an ESP8266.

Control Devices Webpage:
This webpage is available locally via intranet or anywhere via intranet on the Raspberry Pi webserver. Insteon switches are used to turn on and off the radiant heater, the space heater, the HRV fans, the refrigerator, and an outlet used for charging batteries. The HRV's and outlet are automatically on only when battery voltage > 52 but there is a manual override. Window shades can also be controlled from this webpage. The shades can be controlled manually or set to
automatically open in the morning and close in the evening.

New toys:
I have added Homeassistant to Raspberry Pi 4 which can do much of what is on my Control Devices Webpage. I am also setting up Rhasspy voice recognition to do some of these tasks. Both of these programs are free, work locally, and do not require the cloud.