PV Databases and module price in SAM

Hello,
I was wondering how SAM calculates the price of a module (is it a generic $/Watt regardless of the panel you choose, or is there something else that SAM takes into account?) This question goes for inverters as well.
On the same note, which database would be recommended to use, the Sandia one or the CEC one (i.e. which one gets updated more, which one offers better data for simulation purposes, etc)?

Thank you very much for such a useful tool!

Alvaro

The module price is an input on the System Costs page. You can enter it either as $/W or $/unit. The default value that appears when you create a file or case does not change when you change the module on the Module page, or any other variable. That is true for inverters and all other costs on the page. You must verify that the values are appropriate for your analysis.

In general, when you create a case in SAM and choose a technology and financing option, SAM populates all of the input variables for that combination of performance and financial model with inputs from an internal database. We designed SAM to do this to help you get started using SAM before you have final values for all of the variables. We've chosen default cost values to be roughly reasonable for the type of project in the U.S. For example, if you create a cases for a residential PV system or utility IPP system, you will notice that the costs are different for those two project types.

The cost data in this internal database are very rough estimates of costs for the different kinds of projects. Because people are using SAM to model a wide range of projects all over the world, there is not a practical way for us to populate cost variables with more meaningful values. For example, two projects with similar characteristics in the same geographic region but developed by different entities may require different costs -- one entity may be large and benefit from volume discounts, while the other is smaller and pays higher prices. Also, the cost of many of the components of renewable systems are volatile, which makes it difficult to provide reasonable values.

Best regards,
Paul.

Thank you very much for the quick clarification Paul.

Cheers,
Alvaro

Hi,

Would you mind clarifying the difference between the CEC and Sandia PV module databases?
I am unsure as to which one I should use (or the benefits that each one presents?)

Thanks!

Please see the Help topic for the Module input page ("Choosing an appropriate model option"). If you have questions after reading that explanation, please post them here.

Best regards,
Paul.