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claudetools/projects/wrightstown-smarthome/documentation/ha-yellow-setup.md
Mike Swanson aaf4172b3c sync: Add Wrightstown Solar and Smart Home projects 
New projects from 2026-02-09 research session:

Wrightstown Solar:
- DIY 48V LiFePO4 battery storage (EVE C40 cells)
- Victron MultiPlus II whole-house UPS design
- BMS comparison (Victron CAN bus compatible)
- EV salvage analysis (new cells won)
- Full parts list and budget

Wrightstown Smart Home:
- Home Assistant Yellow setup (local voice, no cloud)
- Local LLM server build guide (Ollama + RTX 4090)
- Hybrid LLM bridge (LiteLLM + Claude API + Grok API)
- Network security (VLAN architecture, PII sanitization)

Machine: ACG-M-L5090
Timestamp: 2026-02-09

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-02-10 18:44:35 -07:00

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Home Assistant Yellow - Setup Guide

Created: 2026-02-09 Hardware: Home Assistant Yellow (owned, not yet set up)

What's In the Yellow

  • Custom carrier board with Zigbee 3.0 radio (external antenna)
  • Matter-ready architecture
  • M.2 slot for NVMe SSD (add terabytes of storage)
  • Power supply with international adapters (or PoE)
  • Custom heatsink and thermal pad
  • Ethernet cable

Important: Yellow production ended October 2025, but continues receiving full software updates. No action needed -- it's still fully supported.

Requires separately: Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 or 5

  • Minimum: CM4 with 2GB RAM + 16GB eMMC
  • Recommended: CM4 4GB RAM + 32GB eMMC
  • CM4 Lite option requires NVMe SSD (no eMMC)
  • CM5 supported since HAOS 14 (November 2024)

Setup Process

Hardware Assembly

  1. Install CM4/CM5 -- align CE mark at bottom, press firmly onto connectors
  2. Apply thermal pad to SOC (silver square near Raspberry icon)
  3. Place heatsink on thermal pad
  4. (Optional) Install NVMe SSD in M.2 slot
  5. Close enclosure

First Boot

  1. Connect Ethernet cable to router
  2. Connect power supply
  3. Wait 5-10 minutes for initial setup
  4. Access Home Assistant at http://homeassistant.local:8123
  5. Follow onboarding wizard:
    • Create admin account
    • Set location and timezone
    • Auto-discover devices on network

Post-Setup Essentials

  1. Install HACS (Home Assistant Community Store) -- for custom integrations
  2. Configure Zigbee -- ZHA integration auto-detects the built-in radio
  3. Set up backups -- Automatic daily backups to NAS or cloud
  4. Install File Editor -- for editing YAML configs in browser

Local Voice Assistant (Replace Alexa/Google)

Core Components (All Local, No Cloud)

Whisper -- Speech-to-text (OpenAI's engine, runs locally)

  • Processing: ~8 seconds on RPi4 for transcription
  • Languages: English primary, expanding multilingual

Piper -- Text-to-speech (neural TTS, optimized for RPi)

  • Multiple voice options
  • Very fast synthesis
  • Natural-sounding output

Wyoming Protocol -- Communication standard between voice services

  • Connects Whisper, Piper, and wake word detection
  • Supports remote satellites

openWakeWord -- Wake word detection

  • "Hey Jarvis", "Alexa" (custom), "OK Nabu"
  • Custom wake words trainable
  • English-only currently

Setup Steps

  1. Go to Settings > Add-ons
  2. Install "Whisper" add-on > Start
  3. Install "Piper" add-on > Start
  4. Install "openWakeWord" add-on > Start
  5. Go to Settings > Voice Assistants
  6. Create new assistant:
    • Speech-to-text: Whisper
    • Text-to-speech: Piper
    • Wake word: openWakeWord
    • Conversation agent: (Home Assistant default, or Ollama later)

Voice Satellites (Room-by-Room Control)

Option 1: Wyoming Satellite (RPi-based)

  • Raspberry Pi Zero 2W + microphone + speaker
  • ~$30-50 per room
  • Full wake word + voice processing

Option 2: ESPHome Voice Satellite (ESP32-based)

  • ESP32-S3 + I2S microphone + speaker
  • ~$15-25 per room
  • Auto-discovery via Zeroconf
  • Supports media player, timers, conversations
  • ESPHome 2025.5.0+ integration

Key Integrations

Zigbee (Built-in Radio)

The Yellow has a Silicon Labs Zigbee radio. Use ZHA (Zigbee Home Automation) integration:

  • Auto-detected on first boot
  • Supports 100+ Zigbee device brands
  • No additional dongle needed

Recommended Zigbee Devices:

  • Lights: IKEA Tradfri, Philips Hue (Zigbee mode)
  • Sensors: Aqara door/window, motion, temperature
  • Switches: Sonoff SNZB series
  • Plugs: Innr, IKEA, Sonoff

Victron Solar (Future Crossover)

When Victron MultiPlus II + Cerbo GX are installed:

Integration Methods:

  • Modbus TCP (recommended): Direct polling via hass-victron custom integration
  • MQTT: Bidirectional via Cerbo GX
  • VRM API: Cloud-based (60-minute refresh, built-in since HA 2025.10)

Best Practice: Use 5-second Modbus scan interval (not 20 seconds)

Energy Automations:

  • Run high-load devices when battery SOC > 75%
  • Trigger charging at 25%, stop at 50%
  • EMHASS (Energy Management for Home Assistant) for optimal solar usage

Ollama / Local LLM

Native Ollama integration (HA 2025.6+):

  1. Settings > Devices & Services > Add Integration > "Ollama"
  2. Enter Ollama server URL: http://<llm-server-ip>:11434
  3. Settings > Voice Assistants > Select "Ollama" as conversation agent

Extended OpenAI Conversation (HACS custom component):

  • Supports OpenAI-compatible APIs (Ollama, LiteLLM)
  • Function calling for HA service control
  • Create automations, query APIs, control devices via natural language
  • Install via HACS custom repository

Multi-Model Strategy:

  • Agent 1: Qwen 2.5 7B for real-time voice commands (fast, <1s response)
  • Agent 2: Llama 3.1 70B for complex reasoning (slower, smarter)
  • Route via LiteLLM proxy

Sources

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