How to input Electric Load Data whenever hourly data is not available.

I am trying to model a PV system using SAM whenever I do not have any hourly electric load data available. The only load data I have available is the monthly data presented on monthly utility bills for the facility the PVs are being modeled for. I have tried to set the kW as the monthly average from utility bills for each hour within that month and imported it into the 8760 hour chart. This caused the estimated kWh values for each month to be considerably higher than they actually are compared to utility bills. Whenever adjusting the load profile to monthly usage and entering monthly kWh values into the chart the kW values are adjusted to values lower than shown on the utility bills as well. Any help to overcome this problem would be a great help. 

Hi Alexander,

To model the load as a constant kW value that adds up to a desired monthly value in kWh, you would divide the monthly kWh by the number of hours in each month.

The peak value shown for each month on the Electricity Rates page is the maximum of the hourly (or subhourly) values in the month. When you use the monthly usage in kWh to adjust the size of the load, the peak kW depends on the shape of the load. If you want the peak for a given month to be a specific value, you can either adjust the monthly usage in kWh for that month to achieve the peak kW, or edit the maximum hourly (or subhourly) value for that month.

Best regards,
Paul.

It sounds like you're facing challenges with accurately modeling your PV system using SAM due to the lack of hourly electric load data. When using monthly average data from utility bills to estimate hourly kW values, you're likely experiencing discrepancies in the estimated kWh values for each month compared to the actual utility bills. 

One approach to address this issue is to use a load profile generator tool to create hourly load profiles based on the monthly data from your utility bills. This tool can help you distribute the monthly kWh values into hourly values, taking into account factors like daily and seasonal variations in electricity consumption.

Another option is to try using historical weather data for your location to estimate the hourly load profile. By correlating weather data with electricity consumption patterns, you may be able to create a more accurate representation of the hourly load profile for your PV system model.

Additionally, you may want to consider reaching out to the SAM user community or technical support for further assistance and guidance on how to best model your PV system given your specific data constraints.