solarnetwork.github.com/enthusiast.html at master · SolarNetwork/solarnetwork.github.com · GitHub

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---
title: SolarNetwork Enthusiasts
layout: main
nav-selection: enthusiast
---
<section>
	<h1>SolarNetwork for enthusiasts.</h1>

	<p>SolarNetwork is hosted by the <a href="https://solarnetwork.org.nz/">SolarNetwork
	Foundation</a> (SNF), a registered charity in New Zealand. To get started, hop over to
	<a href="https://data.solarnetwork.net/solaruser/">SolarUser</a> and create an account.
	SolarNetwork is free for personal use and development testing.
	For other use, SNF offers a very reasonable pricing plan based on the amount of data
	you collect. Flick an email to <a href="mailto:info@solarnetwork.net">info@solarnetwork.net</a>
	for more information.</p>

	<p>All that being said, this page will tell you all you need to know to get started
	with your own SolarNode.</p>

	<div class="note">
		We are working hard on a new <a
		href="https://solarnetwork.github.io/solarnode-handbook/users/">SolarNode Handbook</a>,
		packed full of helpful information on how to get starting using SolarNode. It is an ongoing
		effort, but check it out for the most up-to-date information.
	</div>

	<h2>Before you begin</h2>

	<p>Check out the <a href="https://github.com/SolarNetwork/solarnetwork/wiki/Node-Supported-Devices">
	node supported devices</a> page to see what devices SolarNetwork can talk to.
	Don't see something you wish was supported? Submit a <a href="https://dev.solarnetwork.net/jira/">feature
	request</a> or better yet become a <a href="developers.html">developer</a> and
	contribute the support yourself (you'll be helping make the world a better place)!</p>

	<h2>Choose your SolarNode hardware</h2>

	<p>Currently the <a href="https://www.raspberrypi.org/">Raspberry Pi</a> is the best
	supported hardware for a SolarNode. We have complete OS images with SolarNode pre-installed;
	you just copy the image to a SD card and power on the device to have a fully functional
	SolarNode. See the <a href="https://github.com/SolarNetwork/solarnetwork/wiki/Node-Prebuilt-Images">SolarNode Prebuilt OS Images</a>
	page to get started.</p>

	<h3>Roll your own SolarNode</h3>

	<p>If you'd like to deploy SolarNode onto your own device, SolarNode has three basic requirements:</p>

	<ol>
		<li><p>The SolarNode application is written in Java, and requires a minimum of a
			Java 8 runtime environment. Thus your SolarNode can be any hardware that
			supports Java 8.</p></li>
		<li><p>Beyond that the SolarNode needs ways to talk to the devices you want to
			monitor or control, for example: serial ports, USB ports, or WiFi.</p></li>
		<li><p>The SolarNode needs internet connectivity to  be able to post the data
			up to SolarNet, for example: ethernet or WiFi connection to your home
			network, 3G mobile via USB stick, etc.</p></li>
	</ol>

	<h2>SolarKiosk &mdash; showcase your SolarNode</h2>

	<p>The SolarNet service provides many easy ways to visualize your data using just a web
	browser. If you'd like to build a kiosk, for example to display information about your
	SolarNode on a lobby TV screen, see the <a href="https://sourceforge.net/projects/solarnetwork/files/solarkiosk/">SolarKiosk image</a>
	page for some example kiosk disk images.</p>

</section>