Live and Forecast API

Data Specifications

Irradiance, Weather and PV Power data for the solar powered future

Our Live and Forecast data spans from 7 days ago to +14 days ahead, at 5 to 60 minute granularity, anywhere on Earth. Includes probabilistic forecast estimates of PV power and all types of irradiance. Actuals available in real-time. Historical data also available.

Solcast's live and forecast data spans from 7 days ago to +14 days ahead, at 5 to 60 minute granularity, globally. Check the data parameters to learn more.

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What our customers say

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Adding Solcast's weather data in our hydrogen storage systems improved our control strategy that responds well to weather patterns.

Meinhard Ploner

GKN Hydrogen

Forecasts are crucial in optimizing renewable power plants with predictive controls. Solcast’s forecasts, and the resulting decisions we make with them, are front and center for our operators.

Stephen Schneider

Wärtsilä

On top of our sophisticated solar modelling, Solcast's accurate data has elevated what we already have and allowed us to expand to new geographies.

Rachel Liddell

Aurora Solar

Accurate real-time and forecasted weather data is crucial for assessing plant performance and maximizing the value of clean energy assets.

Taylor Grafton

Also Energy

Solcast's "Estimated Actuals" closes the gap for our owned and third-party solar portfolios.

Cypress Creek Renewables

As far as we know, there's no provider that can provide a more accurate forecast.

Samuel Muhr

Hymate

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Live and Forecast Data Specifications

Geographic coverage	Global
Temporal coverage	-7 days to +14 days
Temporal resolution	5, 10, 15, 20, 30 & 60 minutes (period-mean values)
Spatial resolution	90 metres (irradiance, PV power, snow soiling, cloud parameters, and other parameters across all regions)
Updated Frequency	Every 5 to 15 minutes* (irradiance, PV power, snow soiling and cloud parameters, over all non-polar continental areas and nearby islands) Every 4 to 6 hours (other parameters, and polar or remote oceanic regions) Every 15 minutes over Europe, Africa, Middle East, West Asia and India. Every 10 minutes over East Asia, Australia, North & South America. Every 5 minutes over Hawaii, California & Nevada.
Data parameters	The following data parameters are available. In the case of forecasts, which span from the present time up to 14 days ahead, probabilistic 10th and 90th percentile values are also available for the parameters denoted with an asterix (). Irradiance parameters also have clearsky values available (i.e. accounting for aerosols and water vapour, but with no clouds in the sky), these are denoted with a caret (^). Global Horizontal Irradiance^ (GHI) (W/m2) Direct Normal Irradiance^ (DNI) (W/m2) Diffuse Horizontal Irradiance^ (DHI) (W/m2) Global Tilted Irradiance^ (GTI) (W/m2) Advanced PV Power Output^ (MW) Rooftop PV Power Output^ (kW) Cloud Opacity (%) Air Temperature (°C) Solar Zenith Angle (°) Solar Azimuth Angle (°) Albedo Daily Wind Gust (m/s) Wind Speed (10 & 100m) (m/s) Wind Direction (10 & 100m) (°) Relative Humidity (%) Surface Pressure (hPa) Precipitable Water (kg/m2) Precipitation Rate (mm/h) Dewpoint Temperature (°C) Snow Depth Water Equivalent (cm) Snow Depth (cm) Snowfall Rate (cm/h) Snow Soiling Loss - Rooftop (%) Snow Soiling Loss - Ground Mounted (%) Thunderstorm Potential - CAPE (j/kg) View detailed data parameter definitions
Advanced PV Model	The Advanced PV Model, which produces the above listed data parameter "Advanced PV Power Output" is designed for large PV plants where system specifications are typically available, and where accuracy of production estimates and forecasts are important. Solcast's Advanced PV model is based on the open source pvlib-python library, with several proprietary extensions added by the Solcast team. To use the model, user sites must be created, manually via the Solcast API Toolkit web portal or programmatically via the API. These sites exist to store, list, and edit the PV plant specifications used by the model. API requests are made by reference to a site ID. Read more about the Advanced PV Model
Rooftop PV Model	The Rooftop PV Model, which produces the above listed data parameter "Rooftop PV Power Output" is an empirical PV model, designed for modelling fleets of rooftop PV systems with limited system specifications available. This model is limited to four system specifications: system azimuth and tilt, AC capacity, and a bulk loss factor. Because of this limited specification, there is no need for the creation of sites as with the Advanced PV model. Users simply make their API requests by referencing the latitude and longitude. Some users cluster nearby systems (<5km) together, using known or assumed average values of these specifications. Read more about the Rooftop PV Model
Data Access	Via the Solcast Web Toolkit and Solcast API.
File Formats	JSON and CSV (CSV not recommended for automation)

Live and Forecast Data Products