specification: FinOps Framework
specificationVersion: '1.0'
alignedWith:
  framework: FinOps Foundation Framework
  frameworkUrl: https://www.finops.org/framework/
  dataSpec: FOCUS
  dataSpecVersion: '1.3'
  dataSpecUrl: https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
provider: Solcast
providerId: solcast
publisherName: Solcast
serviceCategory: API
created: '2026-05-04'
# Provenance stamped 2026-08-11: this artifact was written by the API Evangelist
# bulk sweep dated 2026-05-04, not harvested from the provider. See roadmap#35.
method: generated
modified: '2026-06-13'
tags:
  - Solar
  - Energy
  - Forecasting
  - Irradiance
  - Weather
  - Renewable Energy
  - PV Power
  - FinOps
  - Cost Management
  - FOCUS
description: >
  FinOps framework definition for the Solcast API surface. Provides a FOCUS-aligned mapping
  for cost allocation, usage measurement, and unit-economics reporting across the provider's APIs.
  Solcast pricing is quote-based across Starter, Pro, and Max commercial tiers. Cost drivers
  include data tier (Starter/Pro/Max), product line (historic, live, forecast, TMY, PV power,
  aggregations), update frequency, time granularity, and number of monitored sites or locations.
  Organizations should instrument API key usage via the Solcast API Toolkit and map spend to
  business units consuming solar and weather data for forecasting, monitoring, and trading.
principles:
  - name: Visibility
    description: Make API consumption costs visible to engineering, product, and finance teams in near
      real-time.
  - name: Allocation
    description: Tag every chargeable API call with the consuming team, environment, application, and
      feature so cost can be allocated.
  - name: Optimization
    description: Continuously evaluate request patterns, caching, batching, and tier selection to reduce
      cost per useful unit of work.
  - name: Accountability
    description: Establish budget owners and chargeback or showback flows for each consuming team.
domains:
  - name: Understand Usage and Cost
    capabilities:
      - Data Ingestion
      - Allocation
      - Reporting and Analytics
      - Anomaly Management
  - name: Quantify Business Value
    capabilities:
      - Planning and Estimating
      - Forecasting
      - Budgeting
      - Benchmarking
      - Unit Economics
  - name: Optimize Usage and Cost
    capabilities:
      - Architecting for Cloud
      - Rate Optimization
      - Workload Optimization
      - Cloud Sustainability
      - Licensing and SaaS
  - name: Manage the FinOps Practice
    capabilities:
      - FinOps Practice Operations
      - FinOps Education and Enablement
      - Invoicing and Chargeback
      - Onboarding Workloads
      - Intersecting Disciplines
billingModel:
  pricingCategory: Usage-Based
  billingFrequency: Monthly
  billingCurrency: USD
  chargeCategories:
    - Usage
    - Purchase
    - Tax
    - Credit
    - Adjustment
  chargeFrequency: Recurring
focusColumns:
  ServiceName: Solcast
  ServiceCategory: Developer Tools / API
  ProviderName: Solcast
  PublisherName: Solcast
  InvoiceIssuerName: Solcast
  PricingCategory: Usage-Based
  PricingUnit: request
  BillingCurrency: USD
  ChargeCategory: Usage
meters:
  - name: api_requests
    description: Count of billable API requests
    unit: request
    aggregation: sum
    dimensions:
      - api
      - endpoint
      - tier
      - region
      - consumer
  - name: data_egress
    description: Bytes returned over the network in API responses
    unit: GB
    aggregation: sum
    dimensions:
      - api
      - region
      - consumer
  - name: compute_seconds
    description: Server-side compute consumed by the request, where applicable
    unit: second
    aggregation: sum
    dimensions:
      - api
      - endpoint
      - tier
apis:
  - name: Solcast API
    baseURL: https://api.solcast.com.au
    tags:
      - Solar
      - Forecasting
      - Irradiance
      - PV Power
      - Weather
      - Renewable Energy
      - Grid Aggregation
      - Historical Data
      - TMY
      - Soiling
    serviceName: Solcast API
    serviceCategory: API
unitEconomics:
  - name: Cost per 1K Requests
    metric: billed_cost / (api_requests / 1000)
    target: TBD
  - name: Cost per Active Consumer
    metric: billed_cost / active_consumers
    target: TBD
maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: kin@apievangelist.com