Embedded Wind and Solar Screensaver
The Embedded Wind and Solar screensaver shows great Britain's embedded wind and solar forecast from National Grid ESO, key-less. It's free, runs in your browser, and ESC exits.
Live preview
Press ESC to leave fullscreen. Settings are saved in your browser only.
How the Embedded Wind and Solar screensaver works
The saver reads the source described above and draws it on a canvas — no account, no tracking.
Great Britain's embedded wind and solar forecast from National Grid ESO, key-less. Embedded means connected to local distribution networks rather than the transmission grid, so the operator cannot meter it and has to forecast it instead.
It refreshes on a schedule, so what you see stays current.
Colours and any options can be changed in settings; nothing is stored beyond your own browser.
Why embedded generation has to be forecast
NESO, the National Energy System Operator, took over from National Grid ESO on 1 October 2024 and balances electricity supply and demand in Great Britain in real time. Its forecast covers wind and solar farms that lack transmission-system metering. They sit in the distribution network, outside NESO’s direct view, so their output cannot be read live and has to be estimated.
That is what embedded means here, and it is why the figures on screen are a forecast rather than a measurement. NESO produces them with its own model and publishes them at half-hourly resolution, from within the current day up to 14 days ahead, updated hourly. The two lines worth watching are solar, which follows a daylight arch, and wind, which wanders with the weather.
Embedded output matters because it hides inside demand: when it is high, the demand the transmission system sees is pushed down even though people are using the same electricity. NESO’s companion capacity figures are likewise estimates built from publicly available information, so treat the numbers as the operator’s best current picture, not an audited total.
A worked example
Great Britain's embedded wind and solar forecast from National Grid ESO, key-less. Embedded means connected to local distribution networks rather than the transmission grid, so the operator cannot meter it and has to forecast it instead.
Settings & tips
- Accent and Background recolour the display.
- Every number on screen comes from the live source — nothing is simulated.
- Press ESC to leave fullscreen.
Frequently asked questions
- Is this real data?
- Yes — it comes from the source named on this page and is refreshed on a schedule.
- Is a key needed?
- No. This source is fully key-less.
- Is it free?
- Yes — free, no download, in your browser.
- Why does solar output drop to zero at night?
- Solar generation depends on daylight, so the forecast follows the sun and sits at or near zero overnight.
- Is this the same as total wind and solar generation?
- No. It covers only wind and solar farms without transmission-system metering, which sit in local distribution networks. It is an estimate, not a total of everything generated.
- How far ahead does the forecast look?
- NESO publishes it half-hourly, from within the current day up to 14 days ahead, updated hourly.