NEM12 CSV Tools for Smart Meter Data

Which Tool do I need ?

Choose the NEM12 Smart Meter Data Analyzer when you want to see your Electricity Demand. It summarizes your Readings by Average, Minimum or Maximum over Hours, Days, Days of the Week, Months and Seasons. It then shows Summary Tables and Charts. You can save the Chart Images and print the Charts and Tables to PDF.

Choose the NEM12 Solar-Export Battery-Sizer when you already have Solar Power and want to know what Battery Capacity your Existing Solar Export could fill. It reads the Solar Export on Meter Register B1. It then reports the Solar Export currently available to charge a Battery, Indicative Annual Savings, and the Useable Battery Capacity required.

Choose the NEM12 CSV Spreadsheet Converter when you want to do the Analysis yourself. It reshapes the NEM12 File into Structured Tabular CSV for Excel, Google Sheets or LibreOffice Calc. You can then build your own Pivot Tables, Tables and Charts.

All Three Tools read the same NEM12 CSV File. One Download from your Portal serves all of them.

Getting 30 Minute Interval Data in CSV Format

This NEM12 CSV Series of Free Online Microtools currently supports 30 Minute Interval Data in AEMO NEM12 CSV Format.

The NEM12 Format can be obtained from Australian Electricity Distributors (or Electricity Retailers)

Getting NEM12 Data from Australian Electricity Distributors

Your Electricity Distributor (not your Electricity Retailer, but the company behind them who actually own the Poles & Wires ... often called a DNSP), typically have a Web Portal where you can access 30 Minute Interval Data from your Smart Meter in AEMO NEM12 Format (or similar) without a time-consuming email request to your Electricity Retailer.

Read a Guide about How to Download / Access Your Smart Meter Data ...

Use Cases

Get Answers about Your Energy Use

• What is my Total Electricity Demand ?
• When am I using the Most Electricity ? - ie. What Months of the Year, what Days of the Week, what Hours of the Day, etc ...
• Is there Unexpected Electricity Demand ? - eg. Mysteriously large usage in the Middle of the Night ?
• How Much am I still importing from the Mains Grid despite my 5 kW Solar Power System ? (On Weekdays ? Overnight ? In Winter ? ...)
• Is my Existing Solar Export enough to fill a 10 kWh Battery in Winter ?

My Retailer's Portal only shows Daily Totals

A Daily Total tells you how much Electricity you used. It does not tell you when you used it. Your NEM12 File keeps every Interval Reading behind that Total.

Load the File into the NEM12 Smart Meter Data Analyzer to see the Hourly Shape of a Day, the difference between Weekdays and Weekends, and the difference between one Season and the next.

Is a Battery worth it for my Solar Export ?

Your Solar Export is the Excess Solar Generation that flows back to the Mains Grid. A Battery can only capture Solar Export that is actually available on the Day you need it.

The NEM12 Solar-Export Battery-Sizer compares your Mains Import (E1) with your Solar Export (B1) Month by Month. It reports the Solar Energy a Battery could cycle each year, and Indicative Annual Savings at an Import Rate that you supply.

How big a Battery could my Solar Export fill ?

A Battery sized to use All the Solar Export available in Summer can be greater than the Battery required in Winter. The Battery-Sizer shows both Ends of that Range on one Chart.

This helps when you do not have the Budget or the Roof Space to add more Solar Panels, and you consider a Battery for the Solar Export you already have.

I want my Smart Meter Data in Excel or Google Sheets

Raw NEM12 CSV is a semi-structured, non-tabular Data Exchange Format. The NEM12 CSV Spreadsheet Converter writes Structured Tabular CSV that displays consistently in Excel, Google Sheets and LibreOffice Calc.

Choose Full Day of Intervals per Row or Single Interval per Row. The Meter Register and the Date appear on EVERY Row, so a Pivot Table can group your Readings without further Preparation.

I compare a Time-of-Use Tariff with a Flat Tariff

A Time-of-Use Tariff charges a different Rate at different Hours of the Day. Your own Hourly Demand Profile decides whether that Tariff suits your Household.

Summarize your Readings by Hour of the Day in the Analyzer. Or convert them to a Spreadsheet and apply your own Peak, Off-Peak and Shoulder Rates to each Interval.

I get Off Gas or buy an Electric Vehicle

Both Changes add Electricity Demand to your Connection. A Record of your Current Demand gives you the Baseline to add that New Demand to.

The Battery-Sizer considers Current Electricity Demand. It does not consider Changes to Demand from Getting Off Gas or from buying an Electric Vehicle.

My Solar Power only supplies One of my Meter Registers

Some Households have a Hot Water Service or an Air-Conditioner on a Controlled Load or Dedicated Circuit. Your NEM12 File records that Circuit on its own Meter Register (E2 or E3). That Register receives a Special Import Tariff.

In that case * ONLY * Solar Power can supply the Electricity Demand on the Import E1 (Main/General Import) Meter Register. A Customer might expect Savings there that a Solar Power System cannot deliver. The Analyzer charts each Meter Register separately, so you can see how much of your Demand sits on E1.

My Solar Feed-in Tariff is Low to Negligible

When the Feed-in Tariff is Low, the Solar Export you send to the Mains Grid earns Little. The Battery-Sizer places an Indicative Value on that same Solar Export when a Battery keeps it at Home.

The same Report helps when you sell your Home, or when you ask a Landlord to install a Battery. It presents the Potential Value of the Solar Export in Writing.

Solar Export Limits and Flexible Exports

Under Flexible Exports Rules your Electricity Distributor can vary how much Solar Export your Connection may send to the Mains Grid. Your NEM12 File records the Solar Export that your Smart Meter actually measured on Meter Register B1.

Summarize Meter Register B1 in the Analyzer to see your Solar Export by Month and by Season, and to track your Solar Feed-in Tariff Earnings over time.

I am a Solar Installer or Energy Assessor and the Customer sent me a NEM12 File

The Tools are Free for Personal or Commercial Use. Please feel free to save Chart Images and to print Charts, Tables and Reports to PDF for your own Quotations and Proposals. You can also give Reformatted CSV to Customers who like to crunch their own Numbers.

The NMI appears on every Bill and in every NEM12 CSV File you receive. Use it to identify the Customer's Network with the DNSP Lookup Tools before you lodge a Pre-Approval.

Good to Know

• NEM12 is a CSV Format defined by AEMO, the Australian Energy Market Operator. Electricity Distributors and Electricity Retailers across the National Electricity Market use it. Western Australia and the Northern Territory sit outside the National Electricity Market, so a Portal there may publish a different Format.
• NEM12 Readings typically cover 30 Minute Intervals, and sometimes 5 or 15 Minute Intervals. The Interval Length arrives with the File from your Portal.
• The Tools read the Standard NEM12 Layout that Electricity Distributor and Electricity Retailer Portals export. See Getting 30 Minute Interval Data in CSV Format above for the Interval Data currently supported.
• The Converter offers the Interval Lengths that are Equal To and Greater Than the Source Data (5 Minute, 15 Minute, 30 Minute, Hourly, Daily). Making a Longer Interval sums the Totals. Making a Shorter Interval would divide a Total into N Equal Parts, which is a Loss of Accuracy.
• Import E1 is the Main/General Import from the Mains Grid. Export B1 is the Solar Generation in excess of Electrical Demand at the time of Generation, which then flows back to the Mains Grid. Your NEM12 File records a Controlled Load or Dedicated Circuit on its own Meter Register (E2, E3, ...).
• The Battery-Sizer Report is a GUIDE ONLY. It considers Current Solar Export from Existing Solar Panel Capacity. It uses Daily Averages for Each Month. It uses a Flat Rate to import a kWh at All Times. It sizes a Battery to capture All Available Solar Export, and does not consider whether that is a Cost-Effective Strategy.
• The USEABLE Capacity of a Battery is typically less than the Total Capacity. For Lithium 80% to 90% is Useable. For Lead-Acid 30% to 50% is Useable before excessive discharge causes damage.
• Displays on Desktops, Laptops, Tablets & Smart Phones
• Browser-Based (No Installation)
• Free for Personal and Commercial Use
• No Payment & No Signup

Easy and Secure

• Browser-Based (No Installation)
• No Payment & No Signup
• Private - Your Data is not shared with 3rd Parties

Launch NEM12 Smart Meter Data Analyzer

Launch NEM12 Solar-Export Battery-Sizer

Launch NEM12 CSV Spreadsheet Converter

Launch NEM12 CSV Validator