[Energy Solutions] Insulation Intelligence in the AI era
Tl;DR
The kind of simulation that people dont ask before commiting 300k+
These are the commands I used to figure out the candidates and sizes.Overall reclaimable space
docker system df docker system df -v
docker system df gives the category totals and reclaimable space. docker system df -v gives the detailed per-image, per-volume, and per-container breakdown.
What docker image prune -a would erase
docker image ls –format ‘{{.Repository}}\t{{.Tag}}\t{{.ID}}\t{{.Size}}’
This lists all images with their sizes. I treated images with CONTAINERS = 0 in the docker system df -v output as prune candidates for docker image prune -a.
If you want just the unused-image IDs from the system df view, this is the practical filter:
docker system df -v
Then inspect the Images space usage table and select rows where CONTAINERS is 0.
What docker volume prune would erase
docker volume ls -qf dangling=true
This lists dangling volumes, which are the ones docker volume prune would remove.
For their sizes, I used:
docker system df -v
and read the Local Volumes space usage section.
What docker builder prune would erase
docker buildx du –verbose
This lists build-cache records with ID, Size, Description, Reclaimable, and other metadata.
To count how many cache records were reclaimable:
docker buildx du –verbose | grep ‘^ID:’ | wc -l
1. docker builder prune
2. docker volume prune
3. docker image prune -aIntro
How confy is going to be a flat that just exists over a conceptual drawing?
Coming from this post with a solar experiment
git clone https://github.com/JAlcocerT/RPihttps://github.com/JAlcocerT/RPi/tree/main/Z_MicroControllers/RPiPicoW/picow-dht-webapp-vpd-poc
picow-dht-webapp-vpd-poc-webapp
- https://github.com/JAlcocerT/RPi/tree/main/Z_MicroControllers/ESP32/esp32-c/mqtt-dht11-dashboard
- https://github.com/JAlcocerT/RPi/blob/main/Z_MicroControllers/ESP32/esp32-c/esp32-dht11-mqtt-emqx.cpp
- https://github.com/JAlcocerT/RPi/tree/main/Z_MicroControllers/dht-webapp
- https://github.com/JAlcocerT/RPi/tree/main/Z_MicroControllers/RPiPicoW/picow-dht-webapp-vpd-poc
- https://github.com/JAlcocerT/RPi/tree/main/Z_MicroControllers/RPiPicoW/picow-dht-webapp
The Sun is interesting
With all that push of energy to us via radiation
What about blender?
I made some simulations recently on how sun rays are hitting our buildings:
sudo snap install blender --classic --channel=5.1/stable
#cd ./poc/building-to-blender
#make helpThen, this happened: https://github.com/JAlcocerT/poc/tree/main/building-to-blender
IoT, Walls, Sun and Heat Transfer
Previoulsy I thought that Linux was tricky compared to W11 to push code towards microcontrollers.
It seems that we dont even need arduino GUI, and a proper data cable + arduino CLI does the job:
cd ./poc/iot-rpi-dht
arduino-cli board list #make serial-list- Fix serial access for this session:
sudo setfacl -m u:$USER:rw /dev/ttyACM0- Edit WiFi in:
iot-rpi-dht/scripts-microcontrollers/firmware-esp32/esp32-dht11-mqtt-emqx-deepsleep.cpp
const char* WIFI_SSID = "your-wifi";
const char* WIFI_PASSWORD = "your-password";
const char* MQTT_BROKER = "192.168.1.14";- Upload:
cd /home/jalcocert/Desktop/poc/iot-rpi-dht/scripts-arduino-setup
./upload-deepsleep.sh /dev/ttyACM0EMQX is already running on this laptop at
192.168.1.14:1883.
So you just need the storage layer:
#make sqlite-count
# cd ./poc/iot-rpi-dht/scripts-microcontrollers/backend-node-sqlite
sqlite3 data/readings.sqlite "select * from readings order by received_ms desc limit 10;"
2|esp32/humidity/dht11|humidity|45.0|2026-06-04T14:42:47.351Z|1780584167351
1|esp32/temperature/dht11|temperature|25.3|2026-06-04T14:42:47.251Z|1780584167251I made it better: because hardcoding wifi/pwd is not nice
#make serial-sketch
make serial-fix PORT=/dev/ttyACM0
make flashSee that the ESP32 is having proper logs while still connected and that emqx is getting the messages:
make serial-log PORT=/dev/ttyACM0 #see whats flowing
#http://192.168.1.2:18083/#/
make emqx-remote #admin/public.18083 #this one can work not only with the local emqx as the previous ones
make mqtt-listen MQTT_HOST=192.168.1.2 MQTT_TOPIC='esp32/#Thensimilarly for the picow DHT22:
make serial-fix PORT=/dev/ttyACM0
make flash-picow
make mqtt-listen MQTT_HOST=192.168.1.2 MQTT_TOPIC='pico/#'So with both pushing data:
#git clone /poc
cd ./poc/iot-rpi-dht/We can have this view:
And improve it with these:
make mqtt-listen MQTT_HOST=192.168.1.2 MQTT_TOPIC='pico/#'
# make arduino-compile
# make serial-fix PORT=/dev/ttyACM0
# make flash # make flash PORT=/dev/ttyACM0
make mqtt-listen MQTT_HOST=192.168.1.2 MQTT_TOPIC='esp32/#'
Running this at the homelab for a few days: yea, there is a cool UI
cd ./poc/iot-rpi-dht-insulation
We need the MLX
The DHT’s are great, but they only measure ambient temperature.
We need a MLX90614 to measure the surface temperature of the wall, because that is what will determine the heat transfer from the wall to the inside.
Of course there is a lot of work on this topic, as you may guess:
https://github.com/JAlcocerT/poc/tree/main/iot-rpi-mlx
cd ./poc/iot-rpi-mlx/Im levereging the public scripts for this sensor here
And the final dashboard
https://github.com/JAlcocerT/poc/tree/main/iot-rpi-mlxdht-insulation
The one that combines all the goodies of previous steps, with the UI/X ive polished:
cd ./poc/iot-rpi-dht-insulation
#docker compose up -d --build dashboard
MQTT_HOST=192.168.1.2 docker compose up -d --build dashboard #so that emqx at homelab is reachable to sqlite and webappRun this any time to check:
sqlite3 ingester/data/readings.sqlite
“SELECT device, metric, COUNT(*), ROUND(AVG(value),1) FROM readings GROUP BY device, metric;”
Or see the latest readings:
sqlite3 ingester/data/readings.sqlite
“SELECT device, metric, value, received_at FROM readings ORDER BY received_ms DESC LIMIT 10;”
I also tried it from the homelab: MQTT_HOST=192.168.1.2 docker compose up -d --build
Conclusions
Measure, dont model:
FAQ
Solar vs Wind
The cost of a small wind turbine for a home ranges from $3,000 to $8,000 per kilowatt installed.
In contrast, an equivalent 1 kW solar panel system would cost about $2,770 on average in the U.S. (SRT 00:07:46 - 00:08:04).
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPvTH7Siclg Channel: Undecided with Matt Ferrell
Solar x TP4056
Together with a 3$ rechargable battery: Samsung INR18650-35E
Same that work for the radiomaster pocket!
The TP4056 USB-C solar charging module is designed to charge batteries at a standard rate of 1 Amp (1000mA).
The Samsung 35E datasheet states its ideal standard charge rate is 1.7 Amps, meaning your TP4056 board will charge this battery completely safely and well within its comfort zone without overheating the battery cell.
The Pi Pico W draws roughly 0.1 Amps maximum when its Wi-Fi radio is blasting a data packet. Since your cell can safely output up to 8 Amps, the Pico W won’t even wake the battery up.
