Energy Consumption
The page defines how and when electricity is used at the facility. The data entered here is used to calculate self-consumption, export potential, system sizing, all feasibility, and financial results.
Purpose of This Page
This page allows users to model electricity consumption behavior using daily usage patterns and monthly or annual energy values.
Consumption is defined in two dimensions:
Daily distribution – when electricity is used during a 24-hour day
Monthly volume – how much electricity is used throughout the year
Together, these inputs determine how well the solar system matches the facility’s demand and directly affect self-consumption, the electricity export levels, and financial returns.
What You Can Do Here
Here, you can:
Select a predefined daily consumption profile or create a custom 24-hour consumption distribution
Define electricity consumption on a monthly or annual basis
Upload detailed hourly consumption data using an Excel file
View consumption charts in real time
The chart on the right visualizes the consumption pattern in real time, helping users validate their inputs.
Apply the same consumption settings to all design versions in the project
Daily Consumption
Daily consumption defines how electricity usage is distributed across 24 hours.
This distribution plays a critical role in:
Calculating self-consumption
Matching solar production with demand
Estimating electricity export to the grid
Consumption Profile
Users can choose a preset daily consumption profile or create a custom profile.
Available preset profiles include:
Family Day Consumption
1–2 Person Family Consumption
Retiree or Home Office Consumption
Night Time Home Consumption
Each preset represents a typical hourly load curve.
Selecting a profile automatically updates the daily consumption chart.
Custom Daily Distribution
When Custom is selected, users can manually define how consumption is distributed across the day.
Values are entered as percentages per time range
The total must equal 100%
This option is useful for modeling:
Industrial or commercial operations
Seasonal or vacation homes
Facilities with night shifts
EV charging behavior
Industrial night shift patterns
Monthly Consumption
Monthly consumption defines the total energy used by the facility per month. This value is required for feasibility and financial calculations.
Consumption Profile
The monthly Consumption Profile determines how total consumption is distributed across the year.
Two options are available:
Constant Consumption
When Constant is selected, the same consumption value is applied to every month.
Best suited for:
Residential users
Facilities with stable year-round energy usage
Custom Consumption
When Custom is selected, users can enter individual kWh values for each month from January to December.
Recommended for:
Facilities with seasonal usage
Agricultural or tourism-related projects
Heating or cooling–driven consumption patterns
Period Selection
The period dropdown allows users to choose:
Monthly
When the Monthly option is selected, the entered value represents consumption per month.
Annual
When the Annual choice is selected, the entered value represents total annual consumption. SolarVis distributes this value across months based on the selected monthly profile.
Upload Consumption Profile
Instead of manually defining consumption, a detailed hourly consumption file can be uploaded to model real usage behavior.
By using this action, you can import an Excel file that contains hourly consumption data.
This method allows solarVis to use real measured data rather than estimated distributions and significantly improves the accuracy of feasibility and financial calculations.
When a file is uploaded:
The system reads hourly consumption values from the file
Daily distribution is automatically derived from the hourly data
Monthly consumption values are calculated based on the uploaded dataset
All simulations use this profile directly instead of manual inputs
This approach is especially useful for:
Projects with smart meter or SCADA data
Commercial and industrial facilities
Projects where accurate load matching is critical
Validating proposals with real consumption history
To upload a file:
Click the Upload Consumption Profile button
Download the template file if needed
Prepare your data in the required hourly format
Upload a single .xlsx file
Once uploaded, the system overrides manual daily and monthly inputs and uses the uploaded data as the primary consumption source.
Related Pages
For more assistance, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
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