What is Deemed Export Quantity?  

If your solar panels or other generation equipment don’t have a smart meter to track how much electricity you export, we use an estimate called Deemed Export Quantity.

The formula to calculate it is as follows:  Deemed export quantity = MEC x Capacity Factor x Export Factor x Provision Interval.  

Here's what each part means: 

• MEC (Microgeneration Export Capacity): The size of your generation system in kilowatts (kW), as declared to ESB Networks.
• Capacity Factor: A fixed value (9.7%) that represents how much electricity your system typically produces over time. It’s the average capacity factor of solar panels.
• Export Factor: A fixed value (35%) that estimates how much of your generated electricity is exported to the grid.
• Provision Interval: The number of hours in the billing period (usually 8,760 hours for a full year).

Sample calculation for deemed export quantity: 

Let’s say you’re a residential customer with an export capacity (MEC) of 1.8 kW, and we’re calculating for a full year:

• Deemed export quantity = MEC x Capacity Factor x Export Factor x Provision Interval 
• Deemed export quantity = 535.30kWh (=1.8 X 0.097 x 0.35 x 8,760) 

ESB Networks calculates this amount and sends it to us. We then apply the microgeneration payment rate to the deemed export quantity.