Step 1: Provision a Site

Find or create the customer account, update the account type, confirm the electric tariff, and set solar pricing for actual savings calculations.

If this customer was previously presented with a forecast of their potential savings, they may already have an account, also called a site. Use this step to make sure the account is up to date before you calculate actual savings. If an account doesn't already exist, set the data below when you add the new account. You can do this in one API call or several, depending on what works best for your application.

Site provisioning workflow

1. Find the existing account by accountId or providerAccountId.
2. Create the account if it does not already exist.
3. Set the account type to CUSTOMER.
4. Confirm the customer’s actual electric tariff.
5. Set the solar tariff and pricing used to calculate solar costs.

The examples in this workflow use actual-savings-example as the providerAccountId.

Find the existing potential customer account

The first step is to find the existing account that was created when the customer was a potential customer. You can retrieve the specific account based on the Arcadia accountId or your own providerAccountId, which is the unique ID you may have assigned to the account when it was created. Here are sample requests for retrieving the account by accountId and providerAccountId:

GET /rest/v1/accounts/{accountId}
GET /rest/v1/accounts/pid/{providerAccountId}

Read Get an Account for more information, including how to search for the matching account if you do not have an ID available in your application.

If the account does not exist, create an account for the customer now. Read Add an Account for more information.

Update the account type

Next, update the account type from POTENTIAL or NULL to CUSTOMER. This lets you find the account more easily in Dash and through the API. Use this sample request to update the type:

PUT /rest/v1/accounts/pid/actual-savings-example/properties

{  
    "keyName":"type",  
    "dataValue":"CUSTOMER"  
}

To learn more about how to update the customer type and other properties, read Add or Update an Account Property.

Confirm the site’s actual electric tariff

After retrieving or creating the account, confirm the electric tariff and assign the solar tariff for the account. This lets your calculations use the appropriate electric and solar prices when calculating actual solar savings.

If you found an existing account from the original proposal, confirm that the electric tariff has not changed. Sometimes customers change tariffs when they install solar or storage. If the customer has chosen a new electric tariff, update the electric tariff and include the effective date for the tariff change. This is most likely on or around the interconnection date.

PUT /rest/v1/accounts/pid/actual-savings-example/tariffs

{  
    "masterTariffId": 522,  
    "serviceType": "ELECTRICITY",  
    "effectiveDate": "2015-01-01T00:00-0800"  
}

If you created a new account, confirm the default tariff or select an alternate tariff.

Read Account Tariff for more information about how to get available tariffs and how to add or update the tariff on the account. You can also set contracted rates on an account for customers in deregulated markets.

Set the solar pricing

Next, add the price the customer pays for solar by selecting a solar tariff for the account. The solar costs are used to calculate the customer’s actual savings. For each solar tariff, you can set the customer’s specific PPA rate or lease rate by using the CONTRACTED function as shown in the examples below. Use the masterTariffId of the solar tariff to update the account’s solar tariff. Include an effectiveDate in the request to specify the date the solar tariff is effective for the account.

Use this example to assign a solar tariff with a PPA rate:

PUT /rest/v1/accounts/pid/actual-savings-example/tariffs

{  
    "masterTariffId": "{masterTariffId}",  
    "serviceType": "SOLAR_PV",  
    "effectiveDate": "2015-06-01T00:00-0700",  
    "rates": [  
            {  
                "rateName": "PPA Rate",  
                "chargeType": "CONSUMPTION_BASED",  
                "chargeClass": "CONTRACTED",  
                "chargePeriod": "MONTHLY",  
                "rateBands": [  
                    {  
                        "rateAmount": "0.155",  
                        "rateUnit": "COST_PER_UNIT"  
                    }  
                ]  
            }  
    ]  
}  

Use this example to assign a solar tariff with a flat monthly PPA:

PUT /rest/v1/accounts/pid/actual-savings-example/tariffs

{  
    "masterTariffId": "{masterTariffId}",  
    "serviceType": "SOLAR_PV",  
    "effectiveDate": "2015-06-01T00:00-0700",  
    "rates": [  
            {  
                "rateName": "Flat Monthly PPA",  
                "chargeType": "FIXED_PRICE",  
                "chargeClass": "CONTRACTED",  
                "chargePeriod": "MONTHLY",  
                "rateBands": [  
                    {  
                        "rateAmount": "125"  
                    }  
                ]  
            }  
    ]  
}  

Use this example to assign a solar tariff with a lease:

PUT /rest/v1/accounts/pid/actual-savings-example/tariffs

{  
    "masterTariffId": "{masterTariffId}",  
    "serviceType": "SOLAR_PV",  
    "effectiveDate": "2015-06-01T00:00-0700",  
    "rates": [  
            {  
                "rateName": "Lease",  
                "chargeType": "FIXED_PRICE",  
                "chargeClass": "CONTRACTED",  
                "chargePeriod": "MONTHLY",  
                "rateBands": [  
                    {  
                        "rateAmount": "295"  
                    }  
                ]  
            }  
    ]  
}  

Use this example to assign a solar tariff with a balanced bill:

PUT /rest/v1/accounts/pid/actual-savings-example/tariffs

{  
    "masterTariffId": "{masterTariffId}",  
    "serviceType": "SOLAR_PV",  
    "effectiveDate": "2015-06-01T00:00-0700",  
    "rates": [  
            {  
                "rateName": "Balanced Bill",  
                "chargeType": "FIXED_PRICE",  
                "chargeClass": "CONTRACTED",  
                "chargePeriod": "MONTHLY",  
                "rateBands": [  
                    {  
                        "rateAmount": "125"  
                    }  
                ]  
            }  
    ]  
}

Use the effective date to align solar pricing with the date the solar tariff applies to the account.

Summary

You have provisioned the site for actual savings calculations. The account is marked as a customer, the electric tariff is confirmed, and the solar tariff pricing is set for the account.

Next, calculate electricity costs using the customer's actual electricity usage.