Installation Requirements |  |  |  |

| This topic describes SAM 3.0 and has not been revised for SAM 2009 Beta. You may find useful information, especially if you are new to SAM, but some of the information may be inconsistent with the new version.

The Solar Advisor Model installation file SAM_install.exe can be downloaded for free from the Solar Advisor website https://www.nrel.gov/analysis/sam/. You will need to complete a short online registration form to receive the download link via email. The installation requirements are:

• | A computer running Microsoft Windows Vista, XP or 2000.

• | Windows language settings configured for English (United States). If your computer is normally configured for a different language, you can temporarily change the language setting before starting Solar Advisor.

• | You must be logged on to Windows with administrative privileges.

• | At least 500 MB of free disk space on a local drive. Note that Solar Advisor project files typically each require at least 3 MB of storage space.

• | Solar Advisor will not run if the program or any of the files it uses are stored on a network drive.

• | Microsoft Excel 2000 or later. The optimization options for utility-scale financing require Excel 2002 or later.

The Solar Advisor Model will run on a Mac computer with a Windows emulator. Although Solar Advisor uses TRNSYS components to run simulations, it does not require that TRNSYS be installed on your computer.