In the heart of a world continuously evolving through technological advancements, energy management emerges as a paramount concern. South Africa, in particular, grapples with the challenge of an intermittent power supply, a predicament that directly affects both daily living and the efficient management of technology in homes. Diving into this arena with a novel solution is Dhiren Naidoo, an Engineer at Advansys, who developed an innovative integration.

The Genesis of the Integration

The concept of EskomSePush Ignition Integration was born out of a personal need, a testament to human ingenuity in facing challenges. Naidoo, confronted with the erratic power supply by South Africa's state-owned utility and the imminent threat it posed to his home server, sought to create an advanced system that would proactively manage the situation.

Levering his expertise and the capabilities of Ignition Maker Edition by Inductive Automation, Naidoo embarked on integrating information from EskomSePush, a service devised by a duo of developers aimed at keeping South Africans abreast of the power utility's status through push notifications.

(Configuration tab)

Crafting the Solution

At its core, the integration aims to pull data from the EskomSePush API to display the time remaining until the next power outage and initiate an orderly shutdown of the home server ahead of any potential load shedding. This initiative reflects not only a profound understanding of the problem at hand but also a keen insight into leveraging available technology to craft pragmatic solutions.

Naidoo included a comprehensive package with the integration, featuring User Defined Types (UDT), essential for making API calls with a unique API key, and scripts embedded with common datetime wrangling functions. Additionally, the package also offers Perspective views that aid users in setting area IDs and displaying load-shedding events, thereby enhancing user interaction and understanding of the system.

(Structure of UDT)

The Developer’s Vision and Purpose

EskomSePush Ignition Integration goes beyond being a mere technological innovation; it is a reflection of Naidoo's vision of empowering individuals with a tool that offers both control and customisation in managing their home automation systems.

Whereas the popular home automation application, Home Assistant, serves as a common solution, Naidoo sought to address the limitations it posed in user interface customisation and ease of configuration. Drawing from his professional experience with Ignition and its inherent flexibility, Naidoo introduced a system that not only promises a higher degree of control over the user interface but also simplifies the process of preempting and managing power outages.