Consumption Profile Import

Answer: Consumption profile import is loading measured or estimated electricity-use data into a modeling workflow. A usable profile identifies what was measured, its units, interval duration, timestamps and missing-data treatment. Grid imports are not necessarily total building load after solar or storage is installed. Importing a file does not establish that its data or resulting projection is accurate.

What a consumption profile represents

A consumption profile is a sequence of electricity-use values over time. Importing it makes those values available to a design or financial model; validation determines whether they are suitable for the project.

The laboratory’s REopt load-data guidance distinguishes simulated building profiles, monthly bills and interval data. These sources answer different questions. A monthly total provides energy for that billing period; it does not reveal when appliances operated.

Keep the source and intended use with the profile. A measured whole-building load, a utility import series and an estimated hourly shape scaled to bills should not all be labeled “actual consumption.”

Data sources and their limits

Green Button Connect My Data supports customer-authorized sharing. Its available interval depends on what the utility’s meters provide; it is not a promise of 15-minute data or a fixed number of historical months.

The Green Button developer documentation describes XML resources, reading metadata and local-time parameters. A receiving application must interpret those fields. Do not describe every utility CSV as standardized Green Button data or assume every design platform supports the same file format.

Have the customer download their records or use a supported authorization process. Request the required data and sharing permission rather than collecting their utility login password.

Define the measurement boundary first

A grid-import meter records electricity entering the site from the grid. It can omit energy supplied directly by an onsite PV system. Exported electricity is another flow, not negative building consumption unless the file explicitly uses that sign convention.

For a simple system without storage or other generation, with compatible AC measurements over the same period:

Direct onsite solar = PV generation − PV exports
Total site load = direct onsite solar + grid imports

For a hypothetical period with 5 kWh generation, 2 kWh exports and 6 kWh imports, direct solar use is 3 kWh, and total load is 9 kWh. Importing the 6 kWh series as total consumption would omit the solar supplied behind the meter.

Storage requires charging, discharge, losses and changes in stored energy to be accounted for. Do not apply the simple PV-only balance to a battery system without checking its topology. The self-consumption calculation guide explains the resulting ratio and energy-flow distinctions.

Check units and interval duration

Energy in kWh and power in kW are not interchangeable. If a record is interval-average power, convert it using the interval duration:

Interval energy (kWh) = average power (kW) × interval duration (hours)

For example, 2 kW averaged across 15 minutes = 0.5 kWh. Conversely, 0.5 kWh over 15 minutes = 2 kW average power. An instantaneous sample of 2 kW does not establish the whole interval’s energy.

If readings are in Wh, convert to kWh before comparing them with bills. If the source uses a multiplier, apply it according to the documented unit metadata. Cumulative meter-register readings require differencing and checks for resets; they are not interval energy values to be summed directly.

The SAM electric-load documentation describes its time-series input as load power in kW. That is a SAM-specific input convention, not a claim about SurgePV’s supported format. Check the receiving software’s current documentation and test a known sample before bulk import.

Keep timestamps unambiguous

Record whether a timestamp marks the start or end of an interval, its duration and its time zone. Match those conventions to production and tariff schedules before overlaying the profiles.

A repeated local clock time when daylight saving ends is not necessarily a duplicate measurement. For example, 01:15 −04:00 and 01:15 −05:00 identify instants one hour apart. Preserve the offset or another unambiguous time reference. Do not delete a record solely because its local clock label repeats.

Similarly, a daylight-saving spring transition may omit a local clock hour without indicating missing meter data. Distinguish calendar transitions from an actual gap in the measurement sequence.

A complete non-leap year of continuous 15-minute intervals contains 35,040 intervals; a complete leap year contains 35,136. Use the actual start, end and elapsed duration to establish the expected count. A local calendar day may not last 24 hours, and partial billing periods cannot be checked against a full-year row count.

Some modeling tools normalize calendars differently. SAM’s documentation describes a calendar convention that does not account for daylight saving or leap years. Preserve the original records and document any transformation required by the chosen model; do not silently relabel measured data to fit it.

Handle missing and duplicate records explicitly

Sort by a consistent time reference and check duration, gaps, overlapping intervals and duplicates. Keep a quality flag or separate issue log for estimated readings, corrections and missing periods.

A blank value is not a measured zero. Consider four expected quarter-hour energy records with values 0.50, 0.75, missing and 0.25 kWh. The available readings sum to 1.50 kWh, but the hour’s total remains unknown. Replacing the gap with zero would incorrectly present 1.50 kWh as a complete measured hour.

If an estimation method assigns 0.50 kWh to the gap, record the resulting 2.00 kWh as an estimate, with its method and affected interval. Scaling a profile to an annual bill total can align energy, but it does not prove the assumed timing or repair a missing peak.

Reconcile totals against the right reference

Compare interval energy totals with the matching billing dates, meter and energy direction. Use energy quantities, not the monetary bill total. Check whether the reference is gross imports, exports, net billed energy or reconstructed site load.

Investigate differences before setting an acceptance tolerance. There is no universal “within 5%” rule that certifies a profile. Different billing boundaries, estimated meter reads, unit errors and incomplete intervals can each create a discrepancy.

Keep both monthly and annual checks. A profile can match the annual total while shifting energy into the wrong months or tariff periods. That can change modeled solar overlap, demand charges or storage value even when the sum appears correct.

Record what the imported profile can support

A useful import handoff includes the original file, meter boundary, units, interval convention, coverage dates, time zone, validation results and transformations. Identify changes in occupancy, EV charging or equipment after the historical period rather than treating the past profile as a guaranteed future load.

Label monthly-bill-derived timing as estimated. Use sensitivity cases where interval data is unavailable. A finer interval does not by itself guarantee accuracy: the sensors, completeness and measurement boundary still matter.

For interpretation, see load profile analysis. For the next modeling step, review net-metering savings inputs. Solar professionals can evaluate the generation and financial workflow with a representative dataset or request a demonstration to confirm the inputs and reports available for their project.

SurgePV publishes this definition as a solar software provider. The linked standards and laboratory guidance support the data principles; they do not verify any particular SurgePV import format, API integration or guaranteed modeling accuracy. Examples are hypothetical arithmetic checks. Reviewed September 30, 2026.

Frequently asked questions

How do you import electricity usage for solar design?

Obtain customer-authorized records, identify their units and measurement boundary, then map timestamps and intervals to the receiving software’s documented format. Check gaps, duplicates and billing-period totals before using the profile. Keep measured data separate from estimated or scaled values.

What is Green Button data?

Green Button provides standards-based utility usage data and authorized sharing arrangements. Its ESPI data model uses XML resources with reading and time metadata. Available intervals and history depend on the utility and meter. A vendor CSV export is not automatically the standardized Green Button exchange format.

Why does consumption data matter for solar sizing?

The amount and timing of site consumption affect how solar production overlaps with demand. Monthly totals can support a screening estimate, but they do not measure the hourly pattern. Storage and time-dependent billing models need suitable time-resolved inputs and explicit assumptions.

Can grid import data be used as total building consumption?

Only if the measurement boundary supports that interpretation. After onsite solar is installed, the import meter omits solar used directly behind it. Storage and other generators introduce additional flows. Reconstruct total load from compatible records or label the profile as imports rather than consumption.