kdheepak
commented
3 years ago Thanks for submitting the form!
Open cpaulgilman opened 3 years ago
kdheepak
commented
3 years ago Thanks for submitting the form!
Name
System Advisor Model (SAM)
Screenshots
Focus Topic
Techno-economic modeling of renewable energy projects
Primary Purpose
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory's System Advisor Model (SAM) is a free techno-economic software model that facilitates decision-making for people in the renewable energy industry.
Description
SAM’s performance models are for photovoltaic systems with optional battery storage, concentrating solar power, industrial process heat, solar water heating, wind, marine energy, geothermal, biomass, and conventional power systems that either deliver electricity directly to the power grid, or interact with the electric load of a grid-connected building or facility.
The financial models are for behind-the-meter projects that buy and sell electricity at retail rates (residential and commercial), or front-of-meter projects that sell electricity at a price determined in a power purchase agreement (PPA) or at market prices. SAM also has financial models for third-party ownership and community solar financial structures.
SAM can model large or small projects, ranging from residential rooftop photovoltaic installations to large concentrating solar power generation projects and wind farms.
The SAM Software Development Kit (SDK) provides tools for integrating SAM into software projects developed in a variety of languages. It includes the Python package PySAM.
SAM is an open source project, so its source code is available to the public. Researchers can study the code to understand the model algorithms, and software programmers can contribute their own models and enhancements to the project. Reference manuals describing the model algorithms are also available for download from the SAM website.
Mathematical Description
SAM is a time series simulation model that uses many different component models to represent the different parts of a renewable energy system and to provide reasonable estimates of the power output of different kinds of renewable energy systems over a multi-year period. It runs hourly or subhourly simulations, depending on the temporal resolution of the weather data provided as input to the model.
The financial models are based on annual cash flow calculations.
Website
https://sam.nrel.gov
Documentation
Documentation is available as part of the software and on the website at https://sam.nrel.gov
Source
https://github.com/nrel/sam
Year
2005
Institution
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Funding Source
U.S. Department of Energy and other parnters
Publications
Publication List
Publications describing SAM's models are available on the SAM website:
https://sam.nrel.gov
Google Scholar lists many publications based on SAM analysis:
https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C38&q=system+advisor+model&btnG=
Use Cases
SAM can model different types of renewable energy systems and financial structures for projects around the world. It is used by project developers in the pre-feasibility and planning stages, by program managers to evaluate proposals, by engineers to evaluate system designs, by policy designers for incentive and rate design, by researchers and academics, and others in the field of renewable energy.
Infrastructure Sector
Represented Behavior
Modeling Paradigm
Capabilities
Model the following types of renewable energy systems:
Model the following types of financial structures
Programming Language
Required Dependencies
NLopt, lp_solve, splinter
What is the software tool's license?
3-clause BSD License (BSD-3-Clause)
Operating System Support
User Interface
Parallel Computing Paradigm
What is the highest temporal resolution supported by the tool?
Minutes
What is the typical temporal resolution supported by the tool?
Hours
What is the largest temporal scope supported by the tool?
Years
What is the typical temporal scope supported by the tool?
Years
What is the highest spatial resolution supported by the tool?
Facility
What is the typical spatial resolution supported by the tool?
Facility
What is the largest spatial scope supported by the tool?
Facility
What is the typical spatial scope supported by the tool?
Facility
Input Data Format
JSON, CSV
Input Data Description
Weather data, system design parameters, project costs, financial assumptions
Output Data Format
CSV
Output Data Description
Time series performance data, annual cash flows, performance and financial metrics
Contact Details
sam.support@nrel.gov
Interface, Integration, and Linkage
No response