Hi Dave,
For now, SAM's PV model only runs with hourly time steps. That's because we have not tested all of the algorithms in the model for smaller time steps. Some of the approximations (for example, cell temperature) are reasonable for hourly time steps, but may not be for smaller time steps.
You could work around this by building your own model in C++ or one of the other languages supported by the
SAM Software Development Kit (SDK)
. The pvwattsfunc module calculates a PV system's output for a single time step (using the PVWatts DC-to-AC derate factor to characterize the system's performance).
Adapting the PV model so it will run with smaller times steps is on our To Do list, but it's not a high priority at the moment. We'd like to hear from anyone else who would use this capability (and has the sub-hourly weather data that would be required to do so).
Best regards,
Paul.