Performance data are sourced at up to 5 minute intervals from more than 6000 PV systems PV systems in 57 regions across Australia. The 57 regions are based on postcodes beginning in the same first two digits (‘2-digit postcode regions’).

The PV performance data is contributed by Solar Analytics and PVOutput.org. The data may not be representative of the average PV system output in all parts of Australia. In particular, in some ‘2-digit postcode regions’, a small number of systems are contributing data and one or more systems may dominate the estimate. The Solar Analytics PV production data is sourced from several thousand sites across Australia from system owners who have installed Solar Analytics monitoring to ensure system health and manage their energy use. Up to 5-sec resolution PV and consumption data, power factor, and grid voltage and frequency is available to be shared and anonymised to protect the privacy of the system owners.

The PV forecast data is contributed by solar power forecasting and irradiance data company Solcast. The Solcast state total performance forecasts shown here are calculated and updated every 10 minutes using 1km resolution satellite data, numerical weather prediction models, and modelling the fleet behavior of installed rooftop PV at thousands of locations Australia wide. Here Solcast forecasts what the APVI values will be, which may differ from raw Solcast forecast. Note that due to delays in obtaining the PV output data, we are showing old forecasts up to real time. This issue will be resolved soon in an upcoming version of the live map.

Performance data is used to estimate the average PV system performance (output as a percentage of rated capacity) for each 2-digit postcode region, in each 15 minute time interval. The output of all the PV systems in each region is calculated using the installed capacity of PV systems in each 2-digit region, according to the Clean Energy Regulator's RET database*. These regional output estimates are summed to estimate the total generation from distributed PV systems in each State. Contribution to load is then calculated using data from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) for the National Electricity Market and the South West Interconnected System. The APVI Live Map estimates exclude PV systems that are registered generators in the NEM, as these are accounted for in AEMO's generation data.

Forecasts for performance and PV contribution to demand are only shown at State (not 2-digit postcode) level. Solcast provides more detailed forecasts of power output and irradiance for large and small scale solar, for single sites or for grid aggregations, available for anywhere in the world via the Solcast API

For Australian users, data is displayed in the user's timezone, so generation from PV from systems east of the users timezone will present with an earlier sunrise, and systems west of the users timezone, a later sunrise. For international users, Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST) is used for all data, as per the convention in the National Electricity Market.

* Linear interpolation is used to calculate a daily capacity figure for each 2-digit postcode region. The most recent capacity figures may be an underestimate as PV system owners have up to a year to register their system with the Regulator, however, these figures are updated retrospectively as better data for past months becomes available.