The data is yours, and if you're the sort of person who likes to dig into these details, we make it available for you to download.

For most of us, the charts in our app give us enough information to see how much electricity we’re using, when, and what it costs.

But, if you’re that way inclined, there's more to learn from your usage data. For example you can understand the impact of shifting usage from Peak to Off-Peak and Night rates.

screen of the Octopus Energy mobile app by scrolling down and pressing the 

This displays the date range, which you can adjust, and a 

You can download up to 12 months of data at a time. 

If you’re wanting the date range to start more than 12 months ago, the easiest way is to delete the end date (ignore the warning messages), then type your desired start date into the start date field and press the TAB key. Trying to set an earlier date range by clicking on the calendars is a painful experience - we’re working to improve that in coming releases.

Open the file with Google Sheets, Excel or your preferred spreadsheet app and dive right in.

Here’s a glossary of the terms you’ll find in the spreadsheet so you can decode them:

This will always be ICPCONS (short for ICP consumption) in the header row and blank in the DET row.

Your Installation Control Point (ICP) is the unique identifier for your electricity connection

Will always be 000 (stands for request accepted data follows)

The serial number of your electricity meter

Shows if this channel records import (I) or export (X) Import is electricity you consume. Export is electricity you export to the grid e.g. solar.

Signifies the type of register (e.g. CN = Controlled, UN = Uncontrolled, D = Day, N = Night, IN = Inclusive)

How many hours per day this register is available, and recording

The amount of power used, or exported, in kWh in that period

Consumption information is unique to each consumer, so the data allows for tailored analysis rather than analysis based on a standard profile. 

It shows you how much electricity you use as an individual consumer and when you use it.

You can download a maximum period of one year's consumption data at a time.

Download your data

In December, our solar customers exported a massive 1.5GWh of electricity - excess electricity that they sold back into the grid for all New Zealanders to use. That’s about the same that 200 homes would consume in a year.

New Zealand is getting long sunshine hours this summer, so it’s a good time to consider if solar is right for your home. Although many of our customers have solar, it’s still a relatively new way of managing your power and power bills. We’ll be posting these handy guides to help figure out if solar is for you.

The sun is a very abundant renewable energy source and more and more people are starting to harness that power to reduce energy bills and their carbon footprint. 

When the sun is shining the solar panels absorb light, generating electricity, and the inverter converts this into a form of electricity household appliances can use. The electricity generated is used to power any household appliances in use during that period. Any excess electricity is exported directly to the grid where it can be used elsewhere.  

Generally, the solar power that is exported back to the grid is used to offset what is used locally in your region.

The below image shows the flow of solar power in your home.

 ‘buy-back rate’, ‘feed-in tariff’ or ‘export rate’

. These refer to the rate your power retailer pays you for the excess electricity that is sold back to the grid. 

The excess electricity is measured by an export meter (which is installed with your solar panels). Retailers, like us, offer a fixed buy-back rate per kWh for electricity you export.  

market-leading uncontracted buy-back rate of 13 cents

 for every kWh you export. This is paid out in the form of credits to offset your total power consumption.

When the sun isn’t shining and your system isn’t producing much power, like when when there is cloud cover or during the long winter nights, then the power you need for your home will be drawn from the grid as normal. This uses up the solar 

 credits you’ve earned. If they're used up you pay the standard usage rates.

If summer is making you think it’s time to consider solar, check out our blog 

A solar system is a great option for homeowners with high energy needs during the day, or who can shift the bulk of their usage to the middle of the day when the sun produces a lot of electricity. Utilised well, it can also offer some protection from the electricity market rates over the long term.

The final consideration is whether you can also include a battery. A battery allows you to store that excess electricity that would otherwise be exported to the grid to use when solar is not being generated, giving you even greater control over when you use your solar generation throughout the day and night.

How Does Solar Work?

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter