Belpe Load Profile Estimator

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Antoine Zürcher
Topic Author

19 Jan 2023 08:00 #11844 by Antoine Zürcher

Belpe Load Profile Estimator was created by Antoine Zürcher

Hi,

I would like to use the Belpe module of PySAM to independently compute a load profile based on the inputs of the Belpe module (Monthly_util, occupants, floor_area, ...) but without computing a complete PV system. For example, would it be possible to do this in python:

import PySAM.Belpe as bp

belpe_model = bp.default('PVBatteryResidential')
belpe_model.LoadProfileEstimator.en_belpe = 1.0
belpe_model.LoadProfileEstimator.solar_resource_file = filename
belpe_model.LoadProfileEstimator.Monthly_util = (100.0, 100.0, 100.0, 100.0, 100.0, 100.0, 100.0, 100.0, 100.0, 100.0, 100.0, 100.0)

belpe_model.execute()

computed_load = belpe_model.LoadProfileEstimator.load

Obviously, this code does not work as the variable 'belpe_model.LoadProfileEstimator.load' is an input and not an output of the model. So is there a way to get the resulting load without computing a complete PV system ?

Thanks for your help

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Paul Gilman

19 Jan 2023 23:27 #11848 by Paul Gilman

Replied by Paul Gilman on topic Belpe Load Profile Estimator

Hi Antoine,

You should be able to run the BELPE module in PySAM as a standalone module. See the module's documentation for a list of required inputs: nrel-pysam.readthedocs.io/en/master/modules/Belpe.html

If you have the inputs set up in SAM, you should be able to use the technique described here to export the SAM inputs to JSON. You can then read the relevant inputs from the JSON file, or if you want, edit the JSON file to remove all of the inputs except the BELPE inputs.

Best regards,
Paul.

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Antoine Zürcher
Topic Author

20 Jan 2023 09:15 #11851 by Antoine Zürcher

Replied by Antoine Zürcher on topic Belpe Load Profile Estimator

Hi Paul,

Thanks for your reply. I figured out it was my solar resource file which was giving errors for the belpe model which was computing a load profile full of NaN.

The solar resource file was actually an EPW file from the PVGIS Online Tool (re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvg_tools/en/). It is the one I used to simulate a complete PVBattery system where everything went fine, but it apparently does not work on the Belpe Model. Do you know which information are missing in the EPW file of PVGIS that makes it obsolete for the Belpe model?

Thank you

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Paul Gilman

20 Jan 2023 17:43 #11852 by Paul Gilman

Replied by Paul Gilman on topic Belpe Load Profile Estimator

Hi Antoine,

I suspect that the EPW file from PVGIS does not contain GHI data. SAM's PV models will run with a weather file that contains only DNI and DHI data, but the BELPE model requires GHI data. Here is the line in the BELPE source code that assigns the GHI data:

github.com/NREL/ssc/blob/cde780767d04d9e4bc81563f4c2a7783a6088138/ssc/cmod_belpe.cpp#L212

You could use the PVWatts model in SAM, or Pvwattsv8 module in PySAM to calculate the GHI data by setting the tilt angle ('tilt' in PySAM) to zero and then using the "Plane of array irradiance" output ('poa' in PySAM) in your weather file with the column heading "GHI".

EPW files are tricky to edit, so you could use SAM's "Weather File Converter" macro to convert the EPW file to the SAM CSV format, and then add the GHI column. Here is a link to the description of the SAM CSV format in SAM's Help system:

samrepo.nrelcloud.org/help/weather_format_sam_csv_solar.htm

Best regards,
Paul.

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