Wall-mounted Solar Manager dashboard for Waveshare e-paper on Raspberry Pi. Shows live energy flow, today's production vs. consumption, and 7-day history at a glance.
20-second overview: This project turns a Raspberry Pi 5 and a Waveshare 7.8" e-paper display into a quiet, always-on Solar Manager dashboard. It connects to the local Solar Manager v2 API, stores live data in SQLite, and refreshes a high-resolution grayscale display every 15 seconds by default.
Who this is for: Solar Manager users who want a dedicated home energy dashboard instead of keeping a tablet or phone mounted on the wall.
What the display shows:
- Live energy flow between solar, grid, home, and battery
- 24-hour production vs. consumption chart with peak marker
- 7-day energy history (produced and consumed in kWh)
- Multilingual: English, German, French, Italian
| Standard | No Battery | PV Surplus |
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| Part | Specification |
|---|---|
| Solar Manager gateway | Any gateway exposing the local v2 API (/v2/stream, /v2/point) |
| Raspberry Pi 5B | 4 GB RAM is fine as the reference target |
| Waveshare 7.8" e-Paper HAT | IT8951 controller, 1872×1404, black/white panel with 2-16 grayscale levels |
| microSD card | SanDisk Extreme PRO 128 GB (reference card) |
| Power supply | USB-C, 5V/5A recommended for Pi 5 (5V/3A works only with reduced peripheral budget) |
| Frame / mount | Your choice, display area is 7.8" diagonal |
Use Raspberry Pi Imager to flash Raspberry Pi OS Lite (64-bit). Enable SSH and configure your Wi-Fi during setup.
The setup script auto-detects the system Python version.
git clone https://github.com/phaupt/solay.git ~/solay
cd ~/solay
bash scripts/setup-pi.shThis installs system dependencies, creates a Python virtual environment (.venv), builds the IT8951 display driver with Pi 5 GPIO support (rpi-lgpio), installs Playwright Chromium, and registers the systemd service.
The Solar Manager local API requires an API key for authentication. Generate a random 256-bit hex key:
openssl rand -hex 32Copy the output (e.g. a1b2c3d4...64 hex characters). Then add this same key in two places:
- On the Solar Manager gateway: Open the gateway web UI at
https://<gateway-ip>, navigate to the API settings, and add the key - On the Pi: Set it in
.env.local(next step)
The setup script creates .env.local in the repo root. Open it and set your values:
SM_LOCAL_BASE_URL=https://<your-gateway-ip>
SM_LOCAL_API_KEY=<your-256-bit-hex-key>
SM_LOCAL_VERIFY_TLS=false
EPAPER_VCOM=<your-vcom, e.g. -1.50>
DASHBOARD_LANGUAGE=DE- Use the Solar Manager gateway IP, not the inverter IP
SM_LOCAL_VERIFY_TLS=falseis needed because the gateway uses a self-signed TLS certificate (see TLS configuration for more secure alternatives)- The setup script defaults language to
DE; change toEN,FR, orITas needed
The VCOM voltage is specific to your display panel. Look for a small sticker on the FPC connector or on the back of the glass panel showing a value like -1.48 or -2.06. If you cannot find the label, read it from the IT8951 controller after setup:
cd ~/solay
sudo .venv/bin/python -c "
from IT8951.interface import EPD
epd = EPD(vcom=-1.5)
print('VCOM:', epd.get_vcom())
"sudo rebootA reboot is required after first setup because SPI gets enabled by the setup script.
After reboot, test the e-paper display:
cd ~/solay
sudo .venv/bin/python scripts/epaper_test.py --vcom <your-vcom>You should see a test pattern on the display.
sudo systemctl start solar-dashboard
sudo systemctl status solar-dashboardThe dashboard should now be collecting data and updating the display. The service auto-starts on boot (configured by the setup script).
Note: The 24-hour chart and 7-day history build up over time from locally collected data. After a fresh install, expect the chart to fill in over the next hours and the history over the next days. To backfill historical data immediately, see Cloud Backfill.
Solar Manager gateway → local collector → SQLite → HTML renderer → Playwright PNG → e-paper display
The Pi connects to the Solar Manager gateway on your LAN via WebSocket, collects live energy data, and stores it in a local SQLite database. A rendering pipeline converts the dashboard to HTML, screenshots it to a grayscale PNG via Playwright, and pushes it to the e-paper display periodically (default: every 15 seconds, configurable via DISPLAY_UPDATE_INTERVAL).
All settings are configured via environment variables in .env.local.
| Variable | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
SM_LOCAL_BASE_URL |
Solar Manager gateway address (required) | http://192.168.1.XXX |
SM_LOCAL_API_KEY |
Gateway API key (required) — see step 3 | (empty) |
EPAPER_VCOM |
VCOM voltage (required for production) — see finding the VCOM | (empty) |
DASHBOARD_LANGUAGE |
Display language: EN, DE, FR, IT |
EN |
TZ |
Timezone | Europe/Zurich |
DISPLAY_UPDATE_INTERVAL |
E-paper refresh cadence in seconds | 15 |
DISPLAY_FULL_REFRESH_INTERVAL |
Full GC16 refresh (brief black flash) every N updates; GL16 is used in between for flicker-free updates. At 15s update interval, 240 = once per hour | 240 |
The Solar Manager gateway uses a self-signed TLS certificate. The setup script defaults to SM_LOCAL_VERIFY_TLS=false in .env.local.
For additional security, pin the gateway's certificate fingerprint (the fingerprint is stable across certificate renewals on the same key pair):
SM_LOCAL_VERIFY_TLS=false
SM_LOCAL_TLS_FINGERPRINT_SHA256=AA:BB:CC:...Both settings are needed: VERIFY_TLS=false disables chain validation (which fails on self-signed certs), while the fingerprint ensures the Pi only talks to your specific gateway.
To get the fingerprint:
openssl s_client -connect <gateway-ip>:443 < /dev/null 2>/dev/null \
| openssl x509 -fingerprint -sha256 -nooutOther options (if your gateway has a proper CA-signed certificate):
- Custom CA bundle:
SM_LOCAL_CA_BUNDLE=/path/to/ca.pem - Full verification (default): remove
SM_LOCAL_VERIFY_TLS=false
The local gateway has no historical data endpoint. The dashboard still works without cloud backfill, but after a restart or fresh install the 7-day history will only show data collected locally on this Pi. Optional cloud backfill uses your Solar Manager cloud account to fill in:
- Previous days: missing daily summaries from before the restart
- Today's gap: the period between midnight and whenever the Pi first started collecting
To enable it, add to .env.local:
SM_CLOUD_BACKFILL_ENABLED=true
SM_CLOUD_EMAIL=you@example.com
SM_CLOUD_PASSWORD=your-password
SM_CLOUD_SMID=your-smid
SM_CLOUD_BACKFILL_DAYS=7
SM_CLOUD_BACKFILL_INTERVAL_SECONDS=300For local development without hardware:
# Setup (dev machine)
python3 -m venv .venv
./.venv/bin/pip install -r requirements.txt
./.venv/bin/python -m playwright install chromium
# Run with mock data
./.venv/bin/python main.py --mock --port 8090Open http://127.0.0.1:8090/ for the mock dashboard or http://127.0.0.1:8090/scenarios for the scenario matrix.
See CONTRIBUTING.md for the full developer workflow, testing, and preview modes.
Symptom: epaper_test.py fails with a device error.
Cause: SPI was just enabled and needs a reboot.
Fix:
sudo rebootSymptom: Display shows noise or very faint image.
Cause: Wrong VCOM voltage.
Fix: Read the correct VCOM from the IT8951 controller (see finding the VCOM) and update EPAPER_VCOM in .env.local. Then restart:
sudo systemctl restart solar-dashboardSymptom: Dashboard shows no data or connection errors in logs. Cause: Wrong IP address, firewall blocking, or using the inverter IP instead of the gateway IP. Fix:
- Verify the IP is your Solar Manager gateway, not the inverter
- Test connectivity:
curl -k https://<your-gateway-ip>/v2/point - Update
SM_LOCAL_BASE_URLin.env.local
Symptom: Display is stuck on an old image. Cause: Service may have stopped or crashed. Fix:
sudo systemctl status solar-dashboard
sudo journalctl -u solar-dashboard -fSymptom: Connection refused or SSL errors in logs.
Cause: Gateway uses a self-signed certificate.
Fix: Ensure .env.local has SM_LOCAL_VERIFY_TLS=false. For additional security, also add fingerprint pinning — see TLS configuration.
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