Dear Sebastian,
Ah yes. Thank you for the clarification. I did not read your original post carefully enough.
When you run the detailed photovoltaic model in "total and diffuse" mode, SAM uses the following equation to calculate the beam (direct normal) irradiance from the total and diffuse irradiance values in the weather file:
ibeam = (gh - df) / cos(z)
Where ibeam=beam, gh=total horizontal in W/m2 from weather file, df=diffuse horizontal in W/m2 from weather file, and z=sun zenith angle in degrees.
If the result is greater than 1500 W/m2, it sets ibeam = 1500. If it is less than zero, it sets ibeam = 0.
Best regards,
Paul.