Solar radiation card

Who it’s for

Solar farm operators, agricultural irrigation planners, and environmental monitoring teams ask “how much solar energy is reaching the surface right now, and has it crossed the threshold for effective generation or irrigation scheduling?” They need a single reading that maps directly to an operational decision.

What it does

A sensor reading 380 W/m² shows an orange icon and value — Moderate — so an irrigation controller knows evapotranspiration demand is building but peak generation conditions have not yet been reached. The same card shows blue at 0 W/m² — None — and red at 1 100 W/m² — Very High.

• Color-coded icon and value across five solar-radiation bands from None to Very High
• Last-updated timestamp showing how long ago the reading arrived
• Shows one sensor’s data; it does not chart irradiance trends or compare multiple pyranometers

How to set up

Data keys

Key	Role	Type	Description
radiation	Main value	Timeseries	Solar irradiance in W/m²; change the key name to match your device’s telemetry key

The widget ships with a simulated function datasource key labeled Solar Radiation, so it draws random values until you point the datasource at a device and rename the key.

To point it at your own device: open the dashboard in edit mode, open the widget’s Datasources, pick the entity or entity alias, and replace the function key with the key your device reports.

The card shows the value in W/m² with no decimal places. If the key has never reported, the card displays the label and icon with an empty value, not an error.

Value ranges

Range (W/m²)	Level	Color
0	None	Blue
0–250	Low	Green
250–500	Moderate	Orange
500–1000	High	Orange
1000+	Very High	Red

How to customize

• To use your own irradiance thresholds — edit Icon color ranges and Value color ranges; set the same boundaries in both so the icon and the number always agree.
• To change the icon — set Icon to any Material or MDI icon name.
• To hide the label, icon, or timestamp — turn off Show label, Show icon, or Show date.
• To switch to an absolute timestamp — turn off Last update ago in the date format settings.
• To match your dashboard’s fonts — set Value font and Label font.

Tips

• Keep Icon color ranges and Value color ranges on the same boundaries so the icon and the number always show the same band.
• Peak clear-sky irradiance at mid-latitudes is roughly 900–1 000 W/m²; values above 1 000 W/m² typically occur only near the equator or at altitude — raise the Very High threshold if your site routinely exceeds this.
• Pair this card with a UV index card: both peak at solar noon, but irradiance drives energy yield and evapotranspiration while UV index drives biological exposure risk.