Two separate signals
SiteIQ answers two different BESS questions from the same grid-proximity rating. They can point opposite ways on the same site — that is intentional, not a bug.
1. Co-location fit (shared interconnection)
Does adding storage help share the interconnection infrastructure you are already building? Fit comes from the OpenStreetMap nearest-substation rating:
- Favorable — Excellent or Good grid proximity
- Possible — Moderate distance
- Limited — Challenging or Remote (long tie — little shared-infra benefit)
- Unknown — no mapped substation in the search radius
2. Curtailment / export investigation cue
Longer mapped distance is only a prompt to investigate whether the interconnection may be weak or export-constrained — it does not prove curtailment, grid strength, or storage value. The cue moves roughly opposite to co-location fit:
- High — Challenging or Remote distance band (investigate curtailment/export and storage options)
- Moderate — Moderate distance band
- Low — Excellent or Good distance band (this cue is weaker; other BESS drivers may still apply)
- Unknown — no mapped substation
Example: a site ~12 km from the nearest mapped substation scores Limited on co-location fit and High on the investigation cue — both are distance-based labels, not measured grid capacity.
The illustrative MW / MWh range is a rule-of-thumb fraction of the SiteIQ screened PV capacity band (not LayoutIQ packed DC). Agri-PV projects also get a land-use note: dual-use leases may restrict non-agricultural equipment siting.
What it is not
- Not a battery design or procurement specification
- Not a revenue / arbitrage model
- Not acoustic, fire, or civil design
- Not a change to the PVMath site score — BESS signals are informational only
- Not a single “go/no-go” BESS verdict — fit and curtailment value can disagree on purpose