Goal
Use a more accurate solar irradiance forecast for the smart controller's predictive fold logic.
Current state
We use NWS (api.weather.gov) for wind and temperature forecast. NWS doesn't give us solar irradiance directly.
Why upgrade
- NREL NSRDB (National Solar Radiation Database) provides historical + typical-year solar irradiance for any US location. Free for research, paid for production.
- Forecast.Solar is a free (no account needed for basic tier) cloud-based forecast that uses PVGIS data.
- akgang's ESP32 MPPT controller uses NASA POWER + OpenWeatherMap forecasts; same idea, different sources.
Reference
Scope
Done when
Smart controller has access to a daily solar forecast, uses it for the grow light top-up mode.
Goal
Use a more accurate solar irradiance forecast for the smart controller's predictive fold logic.
Current state
We use NWS (api.weather.gov) for wind and temperature forecast. NWS doesn't give us solar irradiance directly.
Why upgrade
Reference
Scope
Done when
Smart controller has access to a daily solar forecast, uses it for the grow light top-up mode.