An old Intel board can make a useful router, but this build hit a software snag: OpenWrt booted while its missing e1000e module hid the 82574L ports. The project then tests OPNsense, weighing a lightweight setup against a fuller firewall platform and showing why drivers matter.
Read the build on hackaday.com: Turning an E-Waste PC into a Router
Static brightness and color settings can make a smart home feel out of step with the day. Adaptive Lighting uses Home Assistant’s sun data to set cooler, brighter daytime light and warmer, dimmer evening light, while keeping manual controls available and requiring no custom lighting hardware.
Read the build on github.com: Sync Home Assistant Lights With the Sun
Solar equipment can report far more than a single production number. This Home Assistant integration reads supported Huawei Solar data and functions through Modbus, then presents them as entities for dashboards and automations. Setup depends on compatible hardware, a reachable interface, correct addressing, and sensible polling intervals.
Read the build on github.com: Turning Huawei Solar into Home Assistant Data
Battery life depends on more than an ESP32’s sleep-current figure. This practical guide lays out a wake, measure, transmit, and sleep pattern for soil monitors, weather stations, and other remote devices, while covering wake sources, retained state, wireless costs, board leakage, and realistic runtime estimates.
Read the build on iotjournal.net: Build Long-Running ESP32 Sensor Nodes with Deep Sleep