Non-negotiable. Without these, it is not locus energy technology.
These are not preferences. They are the floor the rest of the ecosystem stands on. A build that skips them is free to exist — it just does not get this name.
physics
MUST
One source: the sun
All claimed power originates in solar irradiance (or light taken directly from it). No second source. No earth-field harvest. No ambient “free” energy.
MUST
Resonance is match frequency
Resonance means impedance / operating-point match so less of the harvest is thrown away (MPPT, tuned conversion, coupled transfer). It does not create energy. See The Honest Free Energy.
MUST
Conservation is visible
Energy accounts balance: input (irradiance × area × time), conversion, storage, load, and measured losses. A run that cannot close the ledger fails.
If a claim requires energy from nothing, stop. The browser instrument at /field/locus already models the same rule: total energy only rises when drive does work.
measurement
MUST
Irradiance logged with power
Every electrical claim pairs with a simultaneous irradiance (or clear sky-proxy) record. Power without light context is not a result.
MUST
Baseline before cleverness
P0 requires a fixed-load baseline on the same panel before MPPT is declared a win. Relative gain is the claim, not absolute watts alone.
MUST
Pass criteria are binary
Each prototype (P0–P3) has a written pass/fail line on /locus/build. Soft language (“looks better”) is not a pass.
Living layer and electronics do not share one uncontrolled air volume. Vapour barrier between wet and dry. Dual T/RH. See One Air, Two Appetites.
MUST
Dry-side envelope stated before the run
Name the dew-point / RH bounds for the electronics bay before data collection. Fail the run if they are breached while the wet side is maintained.
MUST
Plants are buffers, not controllers
Never claim the moss or algae “regulates” equipment climate. Evapotranspiration / culture humidity narrows swings; it does not hold a setpoint.
safety & honesty
MUST
Electrical safety for the scale
Fusing, polarity, outdoor weather-rated connectors if exposed, and isolation appropriate to voltage/current. Bench first; roof only after P2.
MUST
Public claims stay ledger-backed
Marketing and READMEs under this name point at measured runs (lab-log status, channels, optical or mechanical input). Expand every path the schemes open.
MUST
Nothing installed is said until it is
No product, ship date, or “on roofs now” claim until a real install exists. Position and intention are allowed; fiction is not.
organism (if L4 is present)
MUST
Chosen by spectrum, not taste
If fibre daylighting feeds a living layer, the organism must tolerate the delivered spectrum (green-heavy on long PMMA). Two reference organisms: shade moss (terrestrial tray) and green algae (aquatic culture / shallow photobioreactor). Both are chosen by the green window, not aesthetics — see The Green Window.
MUST
Water is the binding constraint
Moisture plan before optimising optics further. A dry tray or collapsed culture under perfect light is a failed live layer. Algae stays wet-side only — culture vessel is never the dry bay.
MUST
Name the organism in the lab log
P2+ runs set organism: moss | algae | other and/or parts[].role accordingly (see lab-log.schema.json).
MUST
Algae battery is storage, not a second source
Green algae may store a fraction of fibre-delivered light as chemical energy in biomass (the algae battery). That is storage of the sun's harvest — parallel to an electrochemical cell on L2, not ambient free energy. Any charge claim needs optical input (lux_exit / spectrum) co-logged with SoC proxy (OD and/or dry biomass). Discharge is harvest of biomass or a measured product path; it does not invent watts.