Optimize cooling schedule with Solar

[Derrickgw]

I have solar panels, but there aren't quite enough to run both A/Cs without drawing power from the grid.  Ideally Nest would be aware of this, and coordinate the two A/Cs to run at different times as much as possible.  For example, if one is about to turn off and the other needs to start, turn the one off a little early, and delay the other, so that my peak energy use doesn't exceed my solar capacity. 

If Nest could connect to the solar array and know how much was being generated vs. used, then it could even do a better job of reducing my electric bill.  Perhaps it could coordinate with other appliances such as the dishwasher or electric dryer.  Or even optimize power consumption during the 15-minute net metering window.

This is very similar to these questions, but they don't really have good answers:  https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Nest-Thermostats/Any-way-to-send-solar-panel-data-to-the-lear... and https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Nest-Thermostats/3-thermostats-2-air-conditioners-want-to-be-....

[Jeff]

Hey Derrickgw,

Sorry for the late response here, but I wanted to check in to see if you were still having this issue and to see if you have done any troubleshooting so far. If you still need help, let me know and I'll be happy to work on this with you.
 

Thanks,

Jeff

[Derrickgw]

It is more of a feature request than a bug, so there aren't really any troubleshooting to do.  The current work around is to try to schedule the upstairs to drop a degree at 10:00am, then have downstairs drop a degree at 11:00am, etc, so that the will most likely not be running at the same time.

I have access to a real-time stream of solar production vs. consumption, so if there was someway to feed that to the thermostat that would be awesome.

[MelbaDT]

Hey there, 

Understood and thanks for these added details. Rest assured that we'll take this as feedback as we're continually working on ways to improve. 

Stay tuned for news and updates. 

Best, 

Melba

[MelbaDT]

Hi, 

We haven't heard from you in a while so we'll be locking this thread if there is no update within the day. If you have any new issues, updates or just a discussion topic, feel free to start a new thread in the Community.

Best, 

Melba