when will SAM include solar space heating and especially the transpired solar air collector system which was developed with support from DOE and NREL. This technology is currently the most popular form of solar air heating for non residential buildings. NREL has performance metrics for transpired collectors
SAM is an electric power generation model, with the exception of its Solar Water Heating model that models a residential or commercial solar water heater that displaces electricity purchases for a conventional electric water heater. To model building thermal components like solar space heating, you can use a building simulation model like EnergyPlus or BeOpt. For a list of building simulation software, see the
U.S. Department of Energy's building energy software tools directory
.
Best regards,
Paul.
