Adding in inverters to CEC library

Is there a guide on how to add inverters to the CEC library in the SAM CEC inverter spreadsheet?

We do not have a guide for adding inverters to the CEC library for SAM's "Inverter CEC Database" inverter model, mostly because we do not expect most people to have the test data to be able to do so.

If you do have the data for one or more inverters, you can add them to the CSV file that SAM reads. The file is in the libraries folder of your SAM installation (c:/SAM/2016.3.14 by default in Windows, see here for OS X), and is called CEC inverters.csv.

Open the file in a spreadsheet program or text editor, and add data for your inverter(s) to the end of the file. You can use data from the other inverters in the file as an example. Note that in addition to data from the manufacturer's data sheet for the inverter, you will need the four empirically-determined coefficients (C0, C1, C2, and C3). Those parameters come from inverter testing, and are described in the documentation of the Sandia inverter model ( PDF 1.3 MB ). SAM reads the library file each time you start the software, so if SAM is running when you modify the library file, you'll have to restart it to see the new entries on SAM's inverter page.

If you only have data from a manufacturer's data sheet, and want to store inverter data for SAM's "Inverter Datasheet" model, you can use the Save data to file and Load data from file buttons on the Inverter page to save inverter parameters that you enter on the Inverter page to a text file. Those parameters are stored in an individual text file for each inverter rather than in a library. To see what that file format looks like, you can save the default parameters to a file, and then open it in a text editor. The format is a simple CSV format, so you could create a set of files outside of SAM.

Best regards,
Paul.

When adding a new inverter based on it's datasheet specs which Maximum AC output power should be used? The datasheet for my MotorMaster Eliminator 400 W Digital Power Inverter has a Maximum Continuous AC output power of 320 W, a 5-minute AC power output of 400W and a Maximum AC output surge power of 700W.

SAM limits the inverter's output to the maximum AC output power specification. For hourly simulations, I think the continuous rating would be the most appropriate.

Best regards,
Paul.