Can I use CSV weather data in SAM directly without conversion

Greeting Paul:

I am using solar water heater model in SAM using weather data file in EPW format which work perfect with me. Know I have a new data set however it is in CSV format. I could not upload them in similar way we have done EPW. So what is the correct way to handle it. When I make add/remove weather file folder and assign the folder which inlcuded CSV files, nothing happen.

Your usual prompt support is highly appreciated.

Best Regards,

Majdie

Hi Majdie,

SAM will only list the CSV file in the solar resource library if the file is in the correct SAM CSV format. You can find a description of the file format, or in the document listed at the top of the Weather Data Publications page of the SAM website:

sam.nrel.gov/weather-data/weather-data-publications.html

Best regards,
Paul.

Greeting Paul:

Many thanks for your reply. I just realized that the file may not be in TMY3 format. Kindly, what is the best method to convert it into TMY3 format so SAM can recognize it.

Many thanks,

Majdie 

Hi Majdie,

SAM's solar models use a special weather file format that we call "SAM CSV." SAM can also read files in older NREL formats, sometimes called "TMY2" and "TMY3" along with the EnergyPlus building model format called "EPW".

The best format to use is SAM CSV described in the documents I mentioned above.

SAM's Solar Resource File Converter can convert files from several formats to SAM CSV. They include:

TMY2
TMY3
EPW
PVsyst CSV
PVGIS 5 CSV
SolarAnywhere

To use the macro, click Macros under the Simulate button and then click Solar Resource File Converter.

If you have data in a different format, you could convert it into the SAM CSV format manually using a text editor or spreadsheet program, or you could write a script to do the conversion.

Best regards,
Paul.

Dear All, 

 I cannot read PVGIS weather solar resource data files in EPW format into SAM. Has there been updates to the PVGIS formatting that means SAM can no longer read the file?  I did text editing of the downloaded EPW  format file  to ensure the header data was consistent. 

I attempted to convert the PVGIS downloaded EPW file using the macro covert to change it to the SAM csv. However, this was unsuccessful.

The attached file is the downloaded PVGIS EPW file which I could not read into SAM.

I also attempted to read - unsuccessfully - the file into SAM after replacing the header rows on the PVGIS EPW file below

LOCATION,unknown,-,unknown,ECMWF/ERA,unknown,47.304000,-1.769000,1,82DESIGN CONDITIONS,0TYPICAL/EXTREME PERIODS,0GROUND TEMPERATURES,0HOLIDAYS/DAYLIGHT SAVING,No,0,0,0COMMENTS 1,Weather Analytics - Sensor Point System data - based on the ECMWF-ERACOMMENTS 2DATA PERIODS,1,1,Data,Thursday, 1/ 1,12/31

with 

Source,Location,Latitude,Longitude,Time Zone,Elevation
PVGIS, St Etienne MontLuc, 47.304000,-1.769000,1,82Year,Month,Day,Hour,Minute,DNI,DHI,GHI,Dew Point,Temperature,Pressure,Wind Direction,Wind Speed,Surface Albedo,,,,,,

I´ll be grateful for any advice.

David T. 

Hi David,

You should be able to use the EPW file available from this page on the PVGIS website: re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvg_tools/en/tools.html#TMY .

Note that for a given location, the CSV file available from that page is not in a format SAM can read, but the EPW file is.

Best regards,
Paul.