What is an API request?

What is an API request?

Introduction

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What you need to know when requesting data through the Solcast API

What does 'request' mean? How many requests does it take to get the data you need.

What is an API request?

If you've checked out our pricing page, or the Solcast API Toolkit, you'll have likely noticed we talk about 'requests' in reference to our data products.

For TMY data products, one request is equivalent as One Location X One (TMY) Year of Data.

For Historical Time Series data, one request is calculated as One Location X One Month of Data.

For Live and Forecast data, each request is calculated as One Location X Requested Forecast/Live Duration of Data.

For example if you made a csv request at Bondi Beach in Australia for Radiation and Weather, and then using the exact same latitude and longitude for Bondi Beach but instead for Rooftop PV Power, you will have used 1 location allowance and 1 request for Radiation and Weather and 1 request for Rooftop PV Power. You can see this breakdown in your Managed Subscription view within the Solcast Toolkit.

For evaulation users, each product endpoint will have it’s own unique limit. Please see Manage Subscription to view specific limits.

There are 3 limits on the Solcast API.

  1. Rate limit (per product) - Standard limits are: Live and Forecast (L&F) 1,000/min, TMY 30/min, TimeSeries 60/min. Exceeding the rate limit will return an error with the message "Rate Limit Exceeded"
  2. Location limit (per product) - A count of the number of unique lat/lons for which data has been requested. For L&F, this resets daily. For TMY and TimeSeries, this can be configured to reset either monthly or yearly depending on need. This number is defined by commercial scope. Exceeding the location limit will return an error with the message "Unique Locations Limit Exceeded"
  3. Request limit (per endpoint) - The number of API calls that can be made to a particular endpoint. This number is defined by product choice.  Exceeding the request limit will return an error with the message "Transaction Limit Exceeded"