Summary
OpenSolar allows you to create custom electricity tariffs that accurately reflect the pricing structures relevant to your customers' utility providers.
Note: We highly recommend that professionals send either the customer's bill or official tariff documentation to the OpenSolar Support Team. Our team can assist by creating the custom tariff for you.
Table of Contents:
How to Create a Custom Tariff
Tariff Rate Fields Overview
- Mandatory Fields
- Optional Fields (Recommended When Available)
How to Create a Custom Tariff
To create a custom electricity tariff:
Navigate to Control > Other > Utility Tariff.
Click + Add Utility Tariff.
-
Complete the required fields, including:
Tariff Name
Utility Provider (optional)
Tariff Type (Residential, Commercial, etc.)
Compensation Mechanism
-
Set the Rate Structures:
Flat Rate
Time-of-Use (TOU) Rates
Tiered Rates
Demand Charges (if applicable)
Input any additional charges (e.g., fixed charges, minimum charges).
Click Save to finalize your custom tariff.
Tip: Ensure all relevant seasonal adjustments and rate escalations are included to reflect real-world billing scenarios accurately.
Tariff Rate Fields Overview:
Mandatory Fields:
Name: Name of the tariff rate.
Code: Rate code as per the utility tariff book or sample bill.
Country: Country where the tariff is offered.
-
Bill Frequency: Frequency of billing; options include:
Monthly
Bi-monthly (every second month)
Quarterly
Annually
-
Solar Compensation Mechanism: Method of crediting solar exports. Options include:
Net Billing
Net Billing with Credit Carryover
Buy All, Sell All
Net Energy Metering (NEM)
Important: The Compensation Mechanism is one of the most critical configurations for accurate customer savings and project financial analysis.
| Attribute | Net Energy Metering | Net Billing | Buy All, Sell All |
Allows self-consumption |
✓ |
✓ |
X |
Energy netting frequency |
Within Billing Period |
Instantaneous |
- |
Quantities Measured & Billed |
i) Net consumption ii) Net excess kWh credits to be compensated or banked |
i) Instantaneous net consumption ii) Instantaneous net exports |
i) Gross consumption over the billing cycle ii) Gross solar production over the billing cycle |
Solar value |
i) Retail Rate - for self-consumption & exported generation ii) Sell Rate - for expired net excess generation credits |
i) Retail Rate - for instantaneous self-consumption ii) Sell Rate - for instantaneous net excess solar exports |
i) Sell Rate - for gross solar production |
Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) Applicability |
X |
✓ |
✓ |
Intra-Billing Cycle kWh Banking |
✓ |
X |
X |
Credit Carry-over |
Excess kWh-credits or $-credits are commonly allowed to be carried over to future billing cycles & may or may not expire |
Credits are not guaranteed but are likely to be carried-over if ever granted, depending on specific crediting terms. For net billing that allows excess solar credits earned can be carried over to offset future bills, we call them "Net Billing with Credit Carryover". |
Credits are not guaranteed and follows specific crediting terms, if carry-over is applicable. |
Additional types of solar compensation mechanisms are handled in OpenSolar to model schemes specific to certain regions:
| Type | Description |
|
Netherlands Net Metering Phase Out in 2031 (Netherlands ONLY) |
|
|
HECO Customer Grid Supply (Hawaii ONLY) |
|
Optional Fields (Recommended When Available):
Utility: Energy supplier or retailer.
Distributor: Grid operator (may be the same as the Utility).
Sector: Customer category (e.g., Residential, Commercial); defaults to Unspecified if not set.
-
Minimum Charge: Minimum daily cost. If listed as monthly/quarterly, convert to a daily equivalent.
Note: Minimum charge differs from the Fixed Charge (which is set under Discounts & Surcharges).
Description: Additional details about the tariff.
Transition to Proposed Tariff: Tariff that the customer will switch to post-proposal acceptance.
Tax: Specify whether rates include or exclude taxes.
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