CSP tower molten salt

Hello everyone,I am a beginner in modeling tower-type solar thermal power stations. To quickly understand the process, I initially used the default settings in SAM. However, the simulation results showed negative hourly power generation and a negative capacity factor. After replacing the weather file, the results returned to normal.Could you please explain why this happened and how to resolve such issues in the future? I have attached my weather file for reference.Thank you for your help!

Hello,

The weather file you attached does not have all of the data elements required by SAM's Power Tower model and other CSP models.

The table in the "Weather Data Elements" topic in Help lists the data elements required for each of SAM's performance model: samrepo.nrelcloud.org/help/weather_data_elements.html

For CSP models, the weather file must include the following:

• direct normal irradiance (DNI)
• dry bulb temperature
• atmospheric pressure
• relative humidity
• wind velocity

Your weather file only contains DNI, ambient temperature, and wind speed data.

Also, you should verify that your file is in the correct format, which is described in the "SAM CSV Format for Solar" topic in Help: samrepo.nrelcloud.org/help/weather_format_sam_csv_solar.html

You can download a weather file for most locations around the world from SAM's Location and Resource page.

Best regards,
Paul.