specification: API Commons Plans
specificationVersion: '0.1'
schema: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/interface-research/main/schema/api-commons.yml#/$defs/Plans
provider: Solcast
providerId: solcast
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
description: >
  Real-data pricing tiers for the Solcast API. Solcast offers Starter, Pro, and Max data tiers
  across its product lines (Historic Time Series, Live Data, Forecast Data, TMY, PV Power, and
  Grid Aggregations), with all paid plans priced by quote request. A free evaluation tier is
  available with up to 10 free live/forecast requests and up to 15 free Historic Time Series
  requests (15 site-months). Unlimited unmetered test location requests are available on all
  plans. Pricing source: https://solcast.com/pricing/irradiance-weather
plans:
  - id: solcast-free
    name: Free Evaluation
    type: freemium
    description: >
      Free trial access for new Solcast users. Grants up to 10 free live and forecast API
      requests at user-defined locations, up to 15 free Historic Time Series requests (15
      site-months), and unlimited requests at Solcast's designated unmetered test locations.
      Data granularity is 30 and 60 minutes; forecasts update every 6 hours. Intended for
      evaluation and integration testing only.
    entries:
      - label: Live and Forecast Requests
        description: Free live and forecast requests at user-defined locations
        name: live_forecast_requests
        type: quota
        metric: requests
        limit: 10
        timeFrame: lifetime
        geo: global
        domains:
          - https://api.solcast.com.au
        unit: 1
        price: '0.00'
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Historic Time Series Requests
        description: Free historic time series requests (site-months)
        name: historic_requests
        type: quota
        metric: site_months
        limit: 15
        timeFrame: lifetime
        geo: global
        domains:
          - https://api.solcast.com.au
        unit: 1
        price: '0.00'
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Unmetered Test Location Requests
        description: Unlimited requests at Solcast-designated unmetered test locations
        name: unmetered_requests
        type: quota
        metric: requests
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: month
        geo: global
        domains:
          - https://api.solcast.com.au
        unit: 1
        price: '0.00'
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Update Frequency
        description: Forecast data update frequency on the free tier
        name: update_frequency
        type: feature
        metric: hours
        limit: 6
        timeFrame: hour
        geo: global
        domains:
          - https://api.solcast.com.au
        unit: 1
        price: '0.00'
        userMultiplied: false
    elements:
      - name: Public Documentation
      - name: Community Support
      - name: Live Data API
      - name: Forecast Data API
      - name: Historic Time Series API
      - name: Unmetered Test Locations
  - id: solcast-starter
    name: Starter
    type: paid
    description: >
      Entry-level commercial tier providing 30 and 60-minute data granularity with 6-hour
      update frequency. Historic data covers up to 3 years ago for time series and 7 days
      for live data. Best suited for day-ahead forecasting, remote monitoring, light machine
      learning, and site commissioning. Pricing requires a quote request from Solcast sales.
    entries:
      - label: Update Frequency
        description: Data update frequency — every 6 hours
        name: update_frequency
        type: feature
        metric: hours
        limit: 6
        timeFrame: hour
        geo: global
        domains:
          - https://api.solcast.com.au
        unit: 1
        price: quote
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Time Granularity
        description: Finest available time granularity in minutes
        name: granularity
        type: feature
        metric: minutes
        limit: 30
        timeFrame: request
        geo: global
        domains:
          - https://api.solcast.com.au
        unit: 1
        price: quote
        userMultiplied: false
    elements:
      - name: Live Data API
      - name: Forecast Data API
      - name: Historic Time Series API (3-year lookback)
      - name: TMY Pro API
      - name: Rooftop PV Power API
      - name: Grid Aggregations API
      - name: P10/P50/P90 Probabilistic Scenarios
      - name: Global Coverage
      - name: JSON and CSV Output Formats
      - name: Optional SLA Add-on
      - name: Optional 24/7 Support Add-on
  - id: solcast-pro
    name: Pro
    type: paid
    description: >
      Mid-tier commercial offering with 15-minute update frequency and data granularity down
      to 5 minutes. Historic time series covers up to 7 years. Designed for performance
      monitoring, high-quality cloud and weather nowcasting, heavy machine learning, and
      grid modelling. Pricing requires a quote request from Solcast sales.
    entries:
      - label: Update Frequency
        description: Data update frequency — every 15 minutes
        name: update_frequency
        type: feature
        metric: minutes
        limit: 15
        timeFrame: minute
        geo: global
        domains:
          - https://api.solcast.com.au
        unit: 1
        price: quote
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Time Granularity
        description: Finest available time granularity in minutes
        name: granularity
        type: feature
        metric: minutes
        limit: 5
        timeFrame: request
        geo: global
        domains:
          - https://api.solcast.com.au
        unit: 1
        price: quote
        userMultiplied: false
    elements:
      - name: Live Data API
      - name: Forecast Data API
      - name: Historic Time Series API (7-year lookback)
      - name: TMY Pro API
      - name: Rooftop PV Power API
      - name: Advanced PV Power API
      - name: Grid Aggregations API
      - name: P10/P50/P90 Probabilistic Scenarios
      - name: Global Coverage at 90m Resolution
      - name: JSON and CSV Output Formats
      - name: Optional SLA Add-on
      - name: Optional 24/7 Support Add-on
  - id: solcast-max
    name: Max
    type: paid
    description: >
      Premium tier with the highest update frequency (every 5 minutes), finest granularity
      (5-minute), and the longest historic data coverage (January 2007 to present). Best for
      sensor gap-filling, QC, highest-quality intraday forecasting, and bankable resource
      assessment. TMY data includes P50/P75/P90/P95 scenarios at 15-minute granularity.
      Pricing requires a quote request from Solcast sales.
    entries:
      - label: Update Frequency
        description: Data update frequency — every 5 minutes
        name: update_frequency
        type: feature
        metric: minutes
        limit: 5
        timeFrame: minute
        geo: global
        domains:
          - https://api.solcast.com.au
        unit: 1
        price: quote
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Time Granularity
        description: Finest available time granularity in minutes
        name: granularity
        type: feature
        metric: minutes
        limit: 5
        timeFrame: request
        geo: global
        domains:
          - https://api.solcast.com.au
        unit: 1
        price: quote
        userMultiplied: false
    elements:
      - name: Live Data API (2007 to present)
      - name: Forecast Data API (+14 days)
      - name: Historic Time Series API (January 2007 to present)
      - name: TMY Max API (P50/P75/P90/P95 at 15-minute granularity)
      - name: Rooftop PV Power API
      - name: Advanced PV Power API
      - name: Premium PV Power API
      - name: Grid Aggregations API
      - name: P10/P50/P90 Probabilistic Scenarios
      - name: Global Coverage at 90m Resolution
      - name: JSON, CSV, SAM, TMY3, PVSyst Output Formats
      - name: Snow Parameters (snow_water_equivalent, snow_depth)
      - name: Optional SLA Add-on
      - name: Optional 24/7 Support Add-on
  - id: solcast-custom
    name: Custom
    type: enterprise
    description: >
      Tailored enterprise solutions for organisations with bespoke data needs including gridded
      data, area averages, historical forecasts, tuned wind models, bulk API access, site
      adaptation, and custom data dashboards. Pricing and scope negotiated directly with Solcast
      sales and technical account management.
    entries:
      - label: API Requests
        description: Negotiated request volume; uncapped subject to fair use and contract
        name: api_requests
        type: quota
        metric: requests
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: month
        geo: configurable
        domains:
          - https://api.solcast.com.au
        unit: 1
        price: custom
        userMultiplied: false
    elements:
      - name: Gridded Data Products
      - name: Area Averages
      - name: Historical Forecast Reanalysis
      - name: Tuned Wind Models
      - name: Bulk API Access
      - name: Site Adaptation
      - name: Custom Data Dashboards
      - name: 24/7 Dedicated Support
      - name: Contractual SLA
      - name: Dedicated Account Manager
      - name: All Solcast APIs
maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: kin@apievangelist.com