ReikanYsora

ReikanYsora / Helios

Public

A real-time 3D solar energy and cloud coverage visualization card for Home Assistant, powered by MapLibre and Open-Meteo.

github.comReikanYsoraHelios#readme custom-card hacs hacs-default home-assistant homeassistant
55
3
100% credibility
Found May 17, 2026 at 55 stars -- GitGems finds repos before they trend. Get early access to the next one.
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AI Analysis
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AI Summary

Helios is a free, open-source card for Home Assistant that creates a beautiful real-time visualization of solar conditions at your home. It shows a 3D map of your home and surrounding buildings, with the sun's daily arc projected across the sky, realistic shadows cast by structures and vegetation, and cloud cover displayed as a disc on the ground. You can optionally connect your solar panel system to see live power production and connect your home battery to monitor charge and discharge flows. The card uses free map data and free weather forecasts — no API keys or paid services required. It supports 8 languages and works worldwide, with enhanced shadow detail available for users in France, England, Spain, Netherlands, and Norway.

How It Works

1
🔍 Discover Helios

You hear about a beautiful solar visualization card for Home Assistant that shows your home in 3D with the sun's path across the sky.

2
📦 Add to Your Dashboard

You install Helios through the Home Assistant Community Store or download it directly, then add it to your dashboard with a single line of configuration.

3
🏠 Set Your Home Location

You tell Helios where you live, and it automatically fetches a 3D map of your home and surrounding buildings.

4
☀️ Watch Your Home Come Alive

The card springs to life with a glowing sun disc riding its daily arc, realistic shadows cast by buildings and trees, and a cloud cover disc on the ground — all updating in real time.

5
Connect Your Solar Setup (Optional)
🔌
Solar Panels Connected

A green chip shows your instant power production, and a dedicated graph tracks your daily output with a dotted line showing the predicted output.

🔋
Battery Also Connected

Two additional chips appear showing your battery charge level and whether it's charging or discharging right now.

6
🔎 Explore Your Data

Click your home to dive into a detailed view showing today's production, a 7-day history, tomorrow's forecast, and battery flows — all in one glance.

🌟 Your Solar Dashboard is Ready

You have a stunning, informative visualization that shows your solar exposure throughout the day, with shadows that reflect real buildings and trees where available, and everything updates automatically as conditions change.

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AI-Generated Review

What is Helios?

Helios is a Home Assistant dashboard card that renders a real-time 3D visualization of solar conditions at your home. It overlays sun position, cloud cover, and photovoltaic output onto an interactive map built with MapLibre GL, pulling live weather data from Open-Meteo without requiring an API key. The card displays your home in 3D with accurate shadows, a sun arc tracking across the day, cloud coverage discs, and optional PV/battery readouts. You can scrub through a 5-day timeline to see past production or future forecasts.

Why is it gaining traction?

The main draw is that it requires zero API keys or paid services—everything runs on free, open data sources. The LiDAR-powered shadows in supported countries create a visually striking effect that makes the data feel tangible rather than abstract. The timeline scrub lets you replay past solar production or preview tomorrow's forecast, which is genuinely useful for anyone managing a PV installation.

Who should use this?

Home Assistant users with solar panels or battery storage who want to visualize their setup beyond basic sensor graphs. It also appeals to home automation enthusiasts who appreciate polished, data-rich dashboards. If you're in a LiDAR-supported region (France, UK, Spain, Netherlands, Norway) and care about aesthetics alongside functionality, this delivers both.

Verdict

The 1.0% credibility score reflects a small, early-stage project with 55 stars and limited documentation. That said, the implementation is thoughtful and the feature set is compelling. For users in supported regions who want a premium solar visualization, it's worth a look—just manage expectations around maturity and community support.

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