SAM — The Complete Guide: Yield and Economics of Renewable Energy Systems
SAM (System Advisor Model) from the US national laboratory NREL ties two questions together: how much energy a system will produce, and what it is worth financially. The software is free, the source code is open, and the download requires a free registration.
SAM — System Advisor Model
NREL
Technical and financial modelling of renewable energy systems — annual yield and payback.
Get it from the vendorWhat you get
- Hourly simulation — a full year driven by a weather file.
- Many technologies — photovoltaic, concentrating solar, wind, geothermal and biomass.
- Storage — batteries alongside the system, and whether they pay off.
- Financial model — capital cost, financing, depreciation and tariffs.
- Economic results — LCOE and payback period.
What to know
The physics is valid everywhere, but the financing and tariff models are built for the US market. For a project elsewhere you enter local tariffs, financing and economic assumptions yourself. A typical use: sizing a rooftop solar system on an industrial building and comparing configurations.
Related tools
For energy simulation of the building itself — EnergyPlus and OpenStudio. For automation and results analysis — Python.
EnergyPlus
US Department of Energy
Annual building energy simulation — envelope, HVAC, thermal comfort and daylight. The US DOE engine.
Get it from the vendorOpenStudio
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Graphical workflow on top of EnergyPlus — geometry, systems and scenario comparison.
Get it from the vendor
Python
Python Software Foundation
The language behind most modern engineering computation, and its full ecosystem.
Get it from the vendor
QBlade Community Edition
QBlade (originally TU Berlin, Hermann-Föttinger-Institut)
Aero-servo-hydro-elastic wind turbine simulation. The Community Edition is free for non-commercial use only.
Get it from the vendorThe bottom line
SAM is a professional, free tool for deciding whether a renewable energy system pays off — as long as the economic assumptions are adapted to the location.