Join Us Tonight! PyData Pittsburgh March Event
An Unexpected Journey: Life Lessons from Conquering Tesla Solar with Python
We’re excited to welcome Christopher Pitstick, Senior Software Engineer, Latitude AI, for our March PyData Pittsburgh event:
An Unexpected Journey: Life Lessons from Conquering Tesla Solar with Python
Check out the Meetup Event page for all information about time and location.
About the Talk
In 2024, Christopher installed a Tesla solar array expecting clean energy and lower bills. Instead, he got a masterclass in persistence, reverse engineering, and why you should never trust a system you can’t monitor. Bringing laptops is encouraged for a live interactive surprise at the start of the session!
Tesla’s Powerwall/Inverter ecosystem is powerful but notoriously opaque—out of the box it tells you very little about what’s happening on your roof. When a weird beeping noise caused Christopher to suspect something was wrong, he built his own monitoring solution with PyPowerwall (an open-source library) utilizing Grafana, InfluxDB, and a Raspberry Pi. The shocking result? He discovered hundreds of kWh in lost production annually.
About the Speaker
Christopher Pitstick
In 2024, Christopher installed solar panels on his home and quickly dove into system analysis to optimize performance — a hands-on experience that directly inspired this presentation.
Originally from Dayton, Ohio, Christopher is a Senior Software Engineer at Latitude AI (a Ford subsidiary). His programming journey began at age 12 with QBasic, sparking a lifelong passion that has taken him through roles at Microsoft, Amazon, and Argo AI. He’s worked across numerous languages including C++, Java, C#, TypeScript, Perl, and, of course, Python!
A dedicated neurodiversity advocate, he regularly shares his experiences through public speaking engagements, raising awareness and empowering others in the tech community.