Testing of New "Value of RE" Macro

In preparation for the January 2017 version of SAM, we have developed a test version of a new macro that we hope will be useful for analysis of behind-the-meter applications (Residential and Commercial financial models in SAM) where the value of the electricity generated by the renewable energy system is determined by the reduction of the residential or commercial building's annual electricity bill.

This macro is a revision of the "Battery Financials" macro in SAM 2016.3.14. The new macro works with any of the performance models in SAM (PV, Wind, CSP, SWH), as long as they are coupled with either the Residential or Commercial financial model, and it works for PV with or without battery storage.

The macro generates two tables showing annual bill electricity components and system lifecycle costs and savings for a "without system," "with system," and optional "with system and storage" scenarios, and allows for different electricity rate structures to be used for the without and with system scenarios.

If you would like to help us test the macro and provide feedback, please download the following file:

Value of RE System.lk (LK 18 KB)

To run the macro:

1. If SAM is running, close it.
2. Copy the file to the runtime/macros folder of your SAM installation (c:/SAM/2016.3.14/runtime/macros in Windows by default).
3. Start SAM and create or open a case using the Residential or Commercial financial model.
4. At the bottom left of the SAM main window, click Macros.
5. In the list of macros, click Value of RE, and follow the instructions.

Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for improving the macro.

Best regards,
Paul.