Solcast
Solcast, a DNV company, provides global satellite-derived solar irradiance data and PV/wind power forecasts via an API and supporting tools, serving utilities, developers, ISO/RTO grid operators, and energy traders across 100+ countries.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2016
- HeadquartersLilyfield, Australia
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Solcast does
Solcast, founded in Sydney in 2016 by James Luffman and Dr. Nick Engerer, is a solar irradiance and renewable power data company acquired by DNV in January 2023 and now operated as part of DNV's Green Data Products. The company runs a global satellite-based platform that ingests geostationary and polar-orbiter imagery and processes it every five minutes into real-time and forecast irradiance data at 1-2km native resolution, downscaled to 90m, with a 20+ year historical archive back to 2007. Built on this data layer are power-forecasting models ranging from a lightweight 6-parameter rooftop PV model to a premium, ML-and-physics hybrid PV model, plus, as of May 2026, a dedicated premium wind power forecast, and a probabilistic markets/portfolios/grid aggregation product supporting 2,000+ sites across 20 countries.
The company monetizes primarily via API subscriptions (free evaluation tier plus usage-based commercial tiers billed monthly) and higher-value annual subscriptions for DNV-branded tools such as SolarFarmer (bankable 3D PV yield simulation, desktop and API) and Solar Resource Compass (web-based site prospecting), alongside academic/research licenses. Distribution is API-first with self-serve registration and an enterprise field-sales motion across more than 100 countries; the DNV channel extends reach to energy assurance and project finance buyers. Customers include AEMO (and 80% of Australian network operators), Iberdrola, Ørsted, NextEra, Shell, Tesla, National Grid, Duke Energy, EDF, Engie, AES, ENEL, KEPCO, and similar tier-1 utilities, developers, and energy technology firms, with claims of supporting financing, construction, and operation of 350–650 GW of solar capacity and processing 26 million API calls daily at >99.99% uptime.
Solcast firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Solcast
- Legal name
- Solcast
- Website
- https://solcast.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2016
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Solcast, a DNV company, provides global satellite-derived solar irradiance data and PV/wind power forecasts via an API and supporting tools, serving utilities, developers, ISO/RTO grid operators, and energy traders across 100+ countries.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Solcast industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Solar and Renewable Energy Forecasting
- akta.pro primary industry
- Renewable Forecasting & Meteorological Data Services (Solar/Wind Forecasts, Nowcasting) (EUAMAIAH)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- DERMS/ADMS & Grid Operations Software Integration (Dispatch, Constraint Mgmt) (EUAMAIAG), DERMS & Microgrid Control Software (EMS/SCADA/DERMS) (EUAMAJAG)
Keywords
Where Solcast is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Lilyfield
- HQ country
- Australia
- HQ region
- Oceania
Offices1 record
Markets served
Solcast business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- API Data Subscriptions: Subscription-based access to Solcast API delivering historical time series, live data, forecast data, and power forecasting models. Accessed via API with rate limits based on subscription tier. Commercial accounts require work email registration.
- Usage-Based API Access: API access with rate limits; free tier for evaluation (up to 10 calls), paid tiers with higher limits for commercial use. Data delivered via JSON or CSV.
- DNV SolarFarmer Licensing: Bankable 3D-aware PV yield simulation tool available via desktop software and API. Licensed to engineering firms and solar developers for project financing.
- DNV Solar Resource Compass: Investment-grade solar yield assessment tool accessible via web platform. Part of DNV's bankable resource assessment suite.
- Academic/Research Licenses: Discounted licenses offered to accredited researchers and universities for academic use.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free Evaluation Tier |
| Usage-based | Monthly | Commercial API Tiers |
| Subscription | Annual | DNV SolarFarmer |
| Subscription | Annual | DNV Solar Resource Compass |
| Subscription | Annual | Academic/Research Licenses |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels8 records
Solcast product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Solcast provides global solar irradiance, wind, and weather data via a REST API for the renewable energy industry. The offering spans historical time series (2007 to 7 days ago), live actuals (updated every 5 minutes), and forecasts (5 minutes to 14 days ahead), plus specialized PV and wind power forecasting models that convert raw irradiance into MW-scale production outputs for assets, portfolios, and grids.
Product overview
Solcast, a DNV company, offers a comprehensive suite of solar and renewable energy data products organized as a platform-plus-modules architecture. The core platform is the Solcast API, which delivers historical time series data (2007-present), live cloud tracking data (updated every 5 minutes), and forecast data (up to 14 days ahead). Built on this platform are specialized power forecasting models including Rooftop PV, Advanced PV, and Premium PV (for solar), plus Premium Wind (the company's first dedicated wind product launched May 2026). Additional modules include Markets/Portfolios/Grids forecasting for utility-scale aggregation, plus DNV-branded tools like SolarFarmer (3D PV yield simulation) and Solar Resource Compass (bankable site prospecting). All products leverage satellite-based cloud tracking at 1-2km resolution and 90m downscaling, processed globally every 5 minutes. The company manages over 350GW of solar assets and processes 26 million API calls daily.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- DNV Solar Resource Compass: Bankable site prospecting and resource assessment tool.
- DNV SolarFarmer
Products and services
- Historical Time Series Global irradiance and weather data records covering January 2007 to 7 days ago for solar and cleantech applications, providing 20+ weather parameters including GHI, DNI, DHI, wind, temperature, and PM2.5/PM10 at 90m resolution with 5-60 minute temporal granularity.
- Typical Meteorological Year (TMY) Statistically representative 'typical year' file built from 15+ years of satellite data for long-term yield modeling and bankable project financing; available as P50 (median) and probabilistic scenarios (P75, P90, P95).
- Live Data Real-time situational awareness data spanning from 7 days ago to now, updated every 5 minutes, with live cloud tracking at 1-2km resolution and validated accuracy of low bias +0.05% and standard deviation ±2.05%.
- Forecast Data Solar irradiance forecast data spanning from 5 minutes ahead up to 14 days ahead, issued every 5-15 minutes with 5-60 minute intervals, beating global weather models by 25% (day-ahead) to 50% (hour-ahead).
- Rooftop PV Power Forecast Model Simple, proven 6-parameter empirical model for predicting PV power at one site or millions, with or without specs and measurement data, capable of operating on as little as location and installed capacity, with dynamic snow-cover and soiling factors.
- Advanced PV Power Forecast Model Physics-based PV power model built on pvlib with proprietary Solcast extensions, offering up to 20 configurable parameters for users to tune to plant specifications, with SDK tools and dynamic snow-cover and soiling factors.
- Premium PV Power Forecast Model (PVML) Most comprehensive PV forecast trained on user production data, with experts generating candidates across physical, ML, neural network, and non-linear model families and selecting the best configuration; produces probabilistic outputs from P10 through P90 and ingests SCADA availability/curtailment tags.
- Premium Wind Power Forecast Model DNV-managed wind power forecasts built by DNV's forecasting engineers, blending multiple NWP sources and training models on turbine SCADA data to capture site-specific effects including terrain complexity, wind farm layout, availability, and curtailment, with probabilistic outputs from P10 through P90.
- Markets, Portfolios, and Grids Forecast Models Probabilistic MW-scale grid forecasts engineered for grid-wide accuracy, fusing live SCADA, 1-2km satellite irradiance, and NWP ensembles to generate kW/MW time-series with P10/P50/P90 uncertainty bands; supports 2,000+ sites (150 GW) across 20 countries with 5-60 minute refresh intervals up to 14 days ahead.
- DNV Solar Resource Compass Bankable site prospecting and resource assessment web tool that delivers ±5% yield estimates in 90 seconds by comparing multiple irradiance datasets side-by-side (Solcast, SolarAnywhere, Solargis, Meteonorm, PVGIS, NREL), using DNV's MLE reference methodology.
- DNV SolarFarmer Bankable 3D-aware PV yield simulations, from automated layout to sub-hourly energy outputs, validated with ±0.1% bias across 2.1 TWh of real-world production; features 3D near-shading at cell-string scale, terrain tracking, REST API, and layout automation, available as desktop software and API.
- Solcast API Synchronous REST API platform delivering all Solcast data products with JSON/CSV output, 99.99%+ uptime, supporting historical time series, live data, forecast data, and power forecasting models globally with rate limits based on subscription tier.
Quantifiable outcome
- Beats global weather models by 25% (day-ahead) to 50% (hour-ahead)
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use Solcast
Customer profileNamed customers29 records
Segments7 records
Ideal customer profiles7 records
Solcast technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration7 records
AI capability3 records
Feature9 records
Solcast partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- DNVcoreSolcast was acquired by DNV in January 2023 and now operates as a DNV company. As one of DNV's Green Data Products, Solcast delivers trusted data, models, and platforms for the global renewable energy industry, leveraging DNV's expertise in energy and assurance.
Scale indicators17 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Solcast competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Solargis: Provides high-resolution solar resource data, TMY, and forecasting for solar project developers, financiers, and operators globally. Direct competitor to Solcast in bankable solar resource assessment and forecasting for the utility-scale market.
- Meteonorm: Generates global solar and meteorological reference datasets (TMY) widely used for PV yield modeling and project bankability. Direct competitor to Solcast in TMY and historical irradiance data for project financing.
- Clean Power Research (SolarAnywhere): SolarAnywhere provides satellite-derived solar irradiance and PV power forecasts for utilities, developers, and grid operators in North America. Direct competitor to Solcast in serving ISOs, utilities, and solar developers with high-resolution forecasts.
- Vaisala (3TIER): Through its 3TIER heritage, Vaisala offers renewable energy resource assessment and forecasting across solar and wind. Direct competitor to Solcast in utility-grade forecast accuracy and grid operations use cases.
Emerging players
- Tomorrow.io: Weather intelligence platform targeting operational decisions across logistics, agriculture, and energy. Increasingly overlapping with Solcast in providing enterprise-grade forecasts and APIs for renewable and energy customers.
- Open Climate Fix: Open-source and applied AI for solar forecasting (e.g., Quartz Solar) targeting grid operators and utilities. Emerging player offering free and ML-based solar nowcasting that competes with Solcast at the accuracy/price frontier.
- Reuniwatt: Provides solar irradiance nowcasting and forecasting services based on ground-based sky imaging and satellite data, primarily in Europe. Comparable to Solcast in solar nowcasting for grid and utility customers.
Broad incumbents
- DTN: Large weather and climate data provider serving agriculture, energy, and trading customers with global forecast feeds. Broad incumbent offering solar and wind forecasts alongside much larger agricultural and commodity weather portfolios.
- IBM Environmental Intelligence Suite: Enterprise weather and environmental data platform used across energy, utilities, and supply chains. Broad incumbent offering renewable forecasting as part of a wider enterprise data and analytics suite.
Regional players
- MeteoControl (Schneider Electric): Solar monitoring and forecasting provider (now part of Schneider Electric) primarily serving European PV plant operators and O&M providers. Comparable to Solcast in PV power forecasting but with stronger presence in European O&M workflows.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Solcast social profiles
Digital presenceSolcast financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Solcast leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Solcast funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Solcast M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Solcast
What does Solcast do?
Solcast provides global solar irradiance, wind, and weather data via a REST API for the renewable energy industry. The offering spans historical time series (2007 to 7 days ago), live actuals (updated every 5 minutes), and forecasts (5 minutes to 14 days ahead), plus specialized PV and wind power forecasting models that convert raw irradiance into MW-scale production outputs for assets, portfolios, and grids.
Is Solcast a public or private company?
Solcast is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Solcast founded?
Solcast was founded in 2016. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Solcast based?
Solcast is headquartered in Lilyfield, Australia, in the Oceania region.
How does Solcast make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. API Data Subscriptions are the primary driver. The others are usage-Based API Access, DNV SolarFarmer Licensing, DNV Solar Resource Compass and academic/Research Licenses.
Who are Solcast's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Solargis, Meteonorm, Clean Power Research (SolarAnywhere) and Vaisala (3TIER). Emerging players are Tomorrow.io, Open Climate Fix and Reuniwatt. Broad incumbents are DTN and IBM Environmental Intelligence Suite. MeteoControl (Schneider Electric) is listed as a regional player.
Does Solcast have an API?
Yes. Solcast offers a REST API that delivers high-quality, high-resolution global solar irradiance, wind, and weather data. The API provides historical time series data (2007 to 7 days ago), live data (7 days to now, updated every 5 minutes), and forecast data (now to +14 days, every 5 minutes). API uptime exceeds 99.99% with very low latency. Synchronous API returns JSON data in 1-5 seconds per request, with requests submitable in parallel up to account rate limits. Data access includes JSON or CSV formats. Bulk API requests are available with SLAs. The API is used by 350+ solar companies and processes 26 million API calls daily. Developer documentation is at docs.solcast.com.au.
What industry is Solcast in?
Solcast's product category is Solar and Renewable Energy Forecasting. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EUAMAIAH, Renewable Forecasting & Meteorological Data Services (Solar/Wind Forecasts, Nowcasting), with a secondary code of EUAMAIAG, DERMS/ADMS & Grid Operations Software Integration (Dispatch, Constraint Mgmt).