Energy value question

In my project, in the cash flow spreadsheet I don't understand the Energy Value number. This is a residential flat plate PV project where the year 0 energy = 10,760 kWh and the year 0 energy value = $3,449.82. This equates to $0.3206/kWh, which would be mostly in tier 3 rates, but the energy production and the useage of 10,241 kWh/year correspond mostly to tier 1. I entered hourly data from the Sacramento sample file.

Could you explain what is happening in this project? This is my first project.

Thanks very much.

Dear Tom,
Unfortunately, SAM's tiered rate model does not accumulate kWh on a monthly basis, so it does not correctly model tiered rates. It treats the tiers as hourly tiers instead of monthly tiers.
In your file, for example, the Tier 3 rate of $0.32377/kWh will only apply in hours that the hourly usage exceeds 30.6 kWh.
We plan to fix this behavior in the next version of SAM, which we hope to release in the Fall of 2014.
Best regards,

Paul.

Thanks, Paul. Understanding this, I can export the spreadsheet and adjust the energy value using separate calculations.

Just I ask..

How to calculate the energy value?

Like, Energy output(kWh) x utility rate($/kWh) = Energy Value

Hello,

I am not sure what your question is. You can export those variables' values from the cash flow table if you want to see how SAM calculates the energy value metric.

Best regards,
Paul.