Error when updating map from coordinates at 3D shade calculator

On July 13, 2025, the Update map from coordinates feature in the 3D Shade Calculator began showing an error after entering valid latitude and longitude values.The system version is SAM 2025.4.16.

 
 

This feature worked without any issues on July 7, 2025. I expected the map to update to the entered coordinates as before.

Has anyone else run into this problem? Any troubleshooting steps or workarounds would be greatly appreciated!
Kim 
 
 

Hi Kim,

This is a problem caused by a change in the web service SAM uses to get a time zone for a given location that we were not aware of. It is related to the weather file download issue described in this post: sam.nrel.gov/forum/forum-general/4042-weather-file-downloads-issue.html

For the 3D shade calculator, a workaround solution is to create your own image outside of SAM as a .png, jpg, or .bmp file and use the "Load Image" button to import it into the scene.

We're working on a fix for both of these problems: github.com/NREL/SAM/issues/1186 .

Best regards,
Paul.