Feature Request - Snow Modeling

I would love to see the addition of snow modeling to SAM. Today we have to use guesswork to estimate losses from snow, but we can and must do better as an industry. At Solar Power International this year there was a good new study by Tim Townsend of DNV KEMA utilizing a formula to predict losses from snow. It seems like this formula could easily be incorporated into SAM. Without being incorporated into a model like SAM the formula is very hard to use, so it would be a big benefit having it in SAM. There is a lot more work to do validate and refine this formula, but it is a start and is far better than guesswork. I've attached a summary of the study here.

Hi Alex_K,
Thank you for the suggestion. We are evaluating options for a snow model that we hope to include in a future version of SAM.
You may be interested in an NREL report that was published earlier today describing analysis we did to compare results from SAM's photovoltaic models to measured data from installed systems. One of the findings involves the issue of snow cover. The report is available from the Case Studies and Validation page .
Tomorrow, the report's primary author will present a summary of the analysis in a webinar. If you would like to participate in the webinar and have an opportunity to ask questions about the study, please register , or, if you miss it, after the webinar you can view a recording from the link toward the bottom of the Learning page .
Best regards,

Paul.