Continuous Aggregate Refresh Policies for Solar and Wind SCADA Data: Choosing the Right Policy Shape

TimescaleDB continuous-aggregate refresh policies are defined by start_offset, end_offset, and schedule_interval, which determine how far back changed data is recalculated, how much recent unfinished data is excluded, and how often refreshes run; policies should span at least two aggregate buckets and generally use a non-NULL end offset. The guide presents five operational patterns for renewable-generation telemetry: frequent, tight refreshes for recently closed buckets and dashboard responsiveness; separate daily, wide refreshes for delayed site data within contractual resettlement periods; coordinated policies at every level of hierarchical ten-minute, hourly, and daily rollups; retention settings that preserve long-lived aggregates while raw data is removed only after it falls outside every refresh window; and manual, often forced, refreshes for historical backfills such as newly onboarded sites. Multiple non-overlapping policies can serve one aggregate, allowing fast recent updates alongside slower deep sweeps, while hierarchical aggregates require parent refresh windows to lag behind child publication delays and composable statistical functions such as Toolkit’s stats_agg and rollup to avoid incorrect averages. The central recommendation is to select policy shapes based on actual data-arrival, reporting, retention, and backfill requirements rather than merely adjusting timing values within an unsuitable configuration.

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