Water heater appliance and methods of operation

A water heater appliance comprising:

• a casing;
• a tank disposed within the casing, the tank defining an inlet and an outlet;
• an inlet conduit mounted to the tank at the inlet of the tank;
• an electric heating system in thermal communication with the tank to heat water within the tank;
• a controller operably coupled to the electric heating system, and
• a sensor operably coupled to the controller and an auxiliary power generator, the auxiliary power generator comprising a solar electricity generator,
• wherein the controller comprises a processor and memory, the controller being configured to initiate a heating cycle, the heating cycle comprising
• recording, at the memory, a plurality of previous voltage readings from the sensor based on a corresponding current generated the auxiliary power generator at during power generation,
• identifying a daily peak auxiliary power period based on the plurality of previous voltage readings at the water heater appliance,
• determining a contemporary voltage reading at the water heater appliance,
• predicting an occurrence of the daily peak auxiliary power period from the auxiliary power generator based on the determined contemporary voltage reading, and
• heating water within the water heater at the predicted occurrence of the daily peak auxiliary power period.