Solcast · Rate Limits

Solcast Rate Limits

Rate limit definitions for the Solcast API based on published provider documentation. Solcast enforces rate limits by product type and active plan. Requests exceeding the defined rate limit are rejected with HTTP 429 Too Many Requests. The free hobbyist account is limited to 10 API requests per day. Commercial plans include limits determined by the subscribed product tier (Starter/Pro/Max). High-volume requirements may qualify for increased limits on a case-by-case basis. Rate limits can be checked in the Solcast API Toolkit at https://toolkit.solcast.com.au/. Source: https://docs.solcast.com.au/

Solcast Rate Limits is the machine-readable rate-limit profile for Solcast on the APIs.io network, conforming to the API Commons Rate Limits specification.

It captures 6 rate-limit definitions, across the free, starter, pro, max, and custom tiers, measuring requests_per_day, site_months, update_frequency_hours, and update_frequency_minutes.

The profile also includes 5 backoff/retry policies defined and response codes documented for throttled, quotaExceeded, and serviceUnavailable.

Tagged areas include Solar, Energy, Forecasting, Irradiance, and Weather.

6 Limits Throttle: 429 Quota: 429
SolarEnergyForecastingIrradianceWeatherRenewable EnergyPV PowerRate LimitingQuotasThrottling

Limits

Free / Hobbyist Daily Request Limit api-key
requests_per_day · day
10
Free hobbyist accounts are limited to 10 API requests per day across live and forecast endpoints at user-defined locations. Data granularity is limited to 30 and 60 minutes, and forecasts update every 6 hours. Up to 15 Historic Time Series requests (site-months) are available on initial registration. Unlimited requests are permitted at unmetered test locations.
Free — Historic Time Series Lifetime Quota api-key
site_months · lifetime
15
New accounts receive 15 free historic time series requests measured in site-months. Each request for one location covering one month of historic data counts as one site-month.
Starter — Update Frequency Constraint api-key
update_frequency_hours · hour
6
Starter-tier data updates every 6 hours. Time granularity is limited to 30 and 60 minutes. Rate limits are product-specific; consult the Solcast API Toolkit for your active limit.
Pro — Update Frequency Constraint api-key
update_frequency_minutes · minute
15
Pro-tier data updates every 15 minutes. Time granularity is 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, and 60 minutes. Rate limits are product-specific; consult the Solcast API Toolkit.
Max — Update Frequency Constraint api-key
update_frequency_minutes · minute
5
Max-tier data updates every 5 minutes. Time granularity is 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, and 60 minutes. Highest data freshness available. Rate limits are product-specific; consult the Solcast API Toolkit. High-volume users may request increased limits.
Custom / Enterprise — Negotiated Limit contract
requests_per_day · day
-1
Enterprise and custom plans have negotiated rate limits determined by use case and contracted data volume. Solcast may grant increased limits for high-volume requirements.

Policies

Rate Limit Enforcement
Rate limits are enforced per API key by product type. Exceeding the limit returns HTTP 429 Too Many Requests. The enforced limit for each account can be reviewed in the Solcast API Toolkit at https://toolkit.solcast.com.au/.
Retry Behavior
Clients receiving HTTP 429 should honor the Retry-After header when present and implement exponential backoff. Solcast recommends caching responses where possible to reduce unnecessary request volume.
Hobbyist Deprecation
The measurement (hobbyist) endpoint for submitting measurements was fully deprecated as of February 2025. Existing integrations retain backward compatibility but no new hobbyist measurement submissions are accepted.
Unmetered Test Locations
All plan tiers (including free) can make unlimited requests against Solcast-designated unmetered test locations without consuming the rate limit quota. These locations are intended for integration testing and development.
Increased Limits
Organizations with very high data volume requirements may request an increased rate limit from Solcast, subject to approval based on their specific use case.