PV Case Studies and Validation

PVPMC 2021 Blind PV Modeling Comparison

NREL's SAM team participated in the Sandia National Laboratories PV Performance Modeling Collaborative (PVPMC) 2021 Blind Modeling Comparison as Participant 11. Results are described in the following publication.

Theristis, M.; Riedel-Lyngskær, N.; Stein, J. et al. (2023) Blind photovoltaic modeling intercomparison: A multidimensional data analysis and lessons learned. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications.
 

Case study of behind-the-meter photovoltaic-battery systems in California and Tennessee

DiOrio, N.; Dobos, A.; Janzou, S. (2015). Economic Case Studies of Battery Energy Storage with SAM. NREL/TP-6A20-64987. 22 pp. (550 KB)

NREL Comparison of SAM, PVsyst, PV*SOL, and PVWatts Results to Measured Data 2014

Freeman, J., Whitmore, J., Blair, N., Dobos, A.. (2014). Validation of Multiple Tools for Flat Plate Photovoltaic Modeling Against Measured Data. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, NREL/TP-6A20-61497. (PDF 488 KB)

Locus Energy SAM Performance Modeling Validation Report 2014

Rudié, E., Thornton, A., Rajendra, N., Kerrigan, S. (2014). System Advisor Model Performance Modeling Validation Report: Analysis of 100 Sites. Locus Energy. (PDF 1.5 MB)

NREL PV Validation 2013

Freeman, J., Whitmore, J., Kaffine, L., Blair, N., Dobos, A.. (2013). System Advisor Model: Flat Plate Photovoltaic Performance Modeling Validation Report. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, NREL/TP-6A20-60204. (PDF 4.3 MB)

SAM Webinar. (2013). "PV Model Validation using Measured Performance Data."

The following files are for NREL facilities as described in the 2013 PV validation documents above, and will run with SAM 2014.1.14:

NREL PV Validation 2012

Blair, N., Dobos, A., Sather, N. (2012). Case Studies Comparing System Advisor Model (SAM) Results to Real Performance Data, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, NREL/CP-6A20-54676. (PDF 360 KB)

The following files are from the 2012 PV validation analysis, which was performed using SAM 2011.6.30. If you would like to run one of the .zsam files to compare results with those shown in the documents, please download and install the legacy version for your comparison.