Power Flow Card Plus

At the start of 2023, I started working on a custom card for Home Assistant to track the power distribution in my house. I noticed there was already an official card that displayed the energy distribution, but I wanted to know about the real-time power flow in my house.

Process

I took a coding-first approach to this project. I immediately started by looking at the original source code of the official energy distribution card and started creating a custom card based on it. After I had the working clone of the original card, I changed all units to power and started working on the power flow logic. Next up, I improved on some small UI details, like the alignment of the lines.

Iteration

After I was satisfied with the main features of the card, I started working on some more exciting features, like individual devices. This was a much requested feature from the community and was also well received by a lot of people. I also created a visual editor from scratch for better UX, especially for people who are not familiar with coding. The visual editor is divided into multiple sections, including grid, solar, battery, non-fossil and individual devices. This makes editing and customizing the card much easier.

Current Status

The current version of the card includes multiple advanced features, including customizing labels, colors, and units. The card also includes a visual editor for easy customization. With over 440k downloads, I consider this project a great success. I like to keep the card up to date with the latest Home Assistant versions and add new features regularly.