Weather- and solar-aware comfort automation

Situation. Several awnings on the east, south and west façades and the air conditioning needed constant manual adjustment. Each awning should lower when the sun is actually on that window, raise again when rain is forecast to spare the fabric, or when the sun no longer hits that façade. The right moment therefore differs per façade orientation. The air conditioning should preferably run on solar power rather than grid power.

Approach. One reusable blueprint pattern is configured separately per awning, each with its own time window per façade: the east awning in the morning, the south awning around midday, the west awning in the late afternoon. The same logic, different timing, weighing optimal shading against the desired amount of daylight indoors. Everything is driven by cloud cover and outdoor temperature (with hysteresis to prevent oscillation), and by the precipitation forecast for the next hour, where rain wins over sun. At a fixed time every awning raises regardless. Outside the window, manual control is left untouched. Because the actuators do not report position for every awning, the automation tracks the last requested position itself and so avoids duplicate commands. The air conditioning runs on the same pattern and only starts when the home battery is above a threshold, there is enough solar surplus, and the indoor and outdoor temperatures are above their thresholds. It stops on a low battery state, a sustained drop in surplus, or once the target temperature is reached. If someone operates the air conditioning manually, the automation pauses itself. All thresholds and times are adjustable from the dashboard, with a lock against accidental changes.

Result. The constant manual adjustment of shading and air conditioning is gone. Each awning regulates itself at the right moment for its orientation, based on weather and sun position, and is protected against rain. The air conditioning shifts from grid to solar power and does not drop below a safe battery limit. No notification spam, and manual control always keeps priority outside the automatic windows.