Hi Paul,
Thank you for sending the file along with your question.
1. Why is SAM's "total revenue without system" different from the value you calculated by hand?
Your calculation is correct for the energy portion of the rate you specified on the Utility Rate page. SAM also includes the monthly charges ("fixed monthly charge" and "monthly fixed demand charge") that you specified. If you remove those charges from the Utility Rate page, you can compare SAM's value to your calculation, or you can include the fixed charges in your calculation to match SAM's value.
2. Why is SAM's "total revenue with system" different from your calculation?
Again, I think the difference is due to the monthly charges that you omitted from your calculation.
3. Why does SAM report a payback period of 11.2 years for a project with 100% financing over 7 years?
I think you can see why from the cash flow graph on the Results page. In SAM, the payback period is the time in years that it takes for project savings to equal the initial cost in Year zero. (See the
Payback Period
topic in Help for details.) In your case, the annual cash flow after the debt period is on the order of $250,000, so after the debt is paid off in Year 7, it takes only a few years to pay off the initial investment of $435,000.
Best regards,
Paul.