SAM for GUAM / Micronesia

Hi... I just downloaded SAM and was trying it. Looks a great software tool but I noticed that only US states are supported. How can we use it in Guam, Am. Samoa, CNMI and/or the Free Associated States like Palau?

Rgds,
Peter

Dear Peter,

You can use SAM to model a project anywhere in the world, as long as you have a weather file to represent the renewable energy resource at the project site, and information about costs, financial assumptions, and incentives that apply to the project.

The NSRDB TMY3 and EPW (sorry about the acronyms) weather file databases both include files for some of the locations you list:

NSRDB TMY3 files by state and city

EnergyPlus weather files for the Southwest Pacific region

As I've mentioned elsewhere on this forum, several companies sell weather files in formats that SAM can read. SAM's Help system lists some of those companies, and also describes how to download weather files from the sites I list above. You can get to the Help system from SAM, or from the Learning page of the SAM website:

SAM Help system: Download Weather Files

Best regards,
Paul.

Hi Paul, et. al.,
Do you know where I can get insolation data for Chuuk and Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia?
Thanks,
Rob

Hi Rob,

Please see the Weather Page for information about where to find weather data to use with SAM:

sam.nrel.gov/weather-data

Neither the NREL NSRDB nor the European Commission PVGIS V5 databases include locations in the Federated States of Micronesia.

Best regards,
Paul.