A couple of years ago I made a Pi-based display to show the UK Grid Intensity and fuel mix - https://github.com/petecliff/ngmx_blinky

I made a new version now for a colleague of mine who is heading off to a new role. He likes microcontrollers so I made this version for a Pi Pico W and Pimoroni's fancy Pico Display.

There are two display options - full width stripes or a histogram. Swapping is manual for now but be nice to add a button one day. The Pico display LED is used to shows the grid intensity.

This is v0.1 - it could do with a bit of work for error handling and maybe status updates on the screen (e.g. NTP failed or getting grid update). One day I'll try threading the two timers too (as currently the grid update blocks the time update) or maybe adding a button listener to change the display (e.g. toggle 'tween display_mix_1 and display_mix_2). Probably some nicer things to add to the display too - e.g. the percent on the top of the bars.

I read that Wifi probably needs some looking after - e.g. reconnect on drops and possibly only connect when needed to save energy.

If you've not already, get connection to the Pico working and flash the LED... :-) https://projects.raspberrypi.org/en/projects/get-started-pico-w

After setting up the pi ensure you go and install the custom pimoroni firmware which will include the libraries needed for the display - https://github.com/pimoroni/pimoroni-pico#micropython

With Thonny setup, create a new folder with the content of this repo in it. Then copy secrets.template.py to secrets.py and put your wifi deets in.

Next check main.py and update the grid API URI to reflect your region - see https://carbon-intensity.github.io/api-definitions/#region-list for a list and the map at https://carbonintensity.org.uk/.

Also update main.py to choose display_mix_1 (fullscreen stripes, where width of stripe is the %) or display_mix_2 (histogram) at line 174.

Finally copy main.py, startup.jpg and secrets.py to / on the Pico using Thonny and restart the Pico.

Pico Display examples are here:

https://github.com/pimoroni/pimoroni-pico/tree/main/micropython/examples/pico_display

and this is worth a read if you want to change the startup image:

https://github.com/pimoroni/pimoroni-pico/blob/main/micropython/modules/picographics/README.md

I took the photo on the way to Thurso and did a bit of editing with GIMP. The A9 to Thurso from Inverness is pretty exciting for wind turbine fans... :-)