Wind

The Wind category is for articles about SAM's Wind Power model and determines what articles appear on the Wind Power page.

Wind Power

SAM's Wind Power model can model a single wind turbine or a wind farm with more than one turbine.

Combine the Wind Power performance model with the Residential or Commercial financial model for a behind-the-meter project that uses wind power to reduce a building or facility's electricity bill, such as a residential wind turbine, or wind turbines on a farm or ranch for self-generation. Or, combine it with one of the PPA financial models for a project that sells power at a power price negotiated through a power purchase agreement, such as a large-scale wind farm.

Wind Videos

Modeling Wind Power Systems in SAM 2018.11.11

This is the most recent video describing SAM's wind power modeling capabilities:

Supporting materials:

Modeling Wind Power Systems in SAM 2013.9.5

This recording describes the wind power model in the legacy version of SAM 2013.9.5. Please see the video above for a demonstration of the model in the latest version of SAM.

Wind Publications

Diamiani, R. (2018). Uncertainty and Risk Assessment in the Design Process for Wind. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, NREL/TP-5000-67499 (PDF 8.9 MB)

Freeman, J.; Gilman, P.; Jorgenson, J.; Ferguson, T. (2014). "Reference Manual for the System Advisor Model's Wind Performance Model." National Renewable Energy Laboratory, NREL/TP-6A20-60570. (PDF 738 KB)

Stehly, T.; Duffy, P. (2020) "2020 Cost of Wind Energy Review." National Renewable Energy Laboratory, NREL/TP-5000-81209. (PDF 2.4 MB)

Small Wind Certification Websites

The following websites provide information about small wind certification:

Wind Cost Data

Wiser, R.; Bolinger, M. (2014). 2013 Wind Technologies Market Report. U.S. Department of Energy. 82 pp.; DOE/GO-102014-4459. (PDF 2.5 MB) [utility-scale default total cost and O&M default costs]

Orrell, A.; Rhoads-Weaver M. (2014). 2013 Distributed Wind Market Report. 54 pp.; PNNL-23484. (PDF 3 MB) [residential and commercial default installed costs, commercial default O&M cost same as utility-scale]

Land-Based Balance of System Costs

SAM includes an implementation of NREL's LandBOSSE Python model to calculate balance-of-system costs for land-based wind projects.

Eberle, A.; Roberts, O.; Key, A.; Bhaskar, P.; Dykes, K. (2019) NREL's Balance-of-System Cost Model for Land-Based Wind. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. 62 pp. NREL/TP-6A20-72201. (PDF 3.0 MB)

LandBOSSE in SAM (Tutorial/Documentation). Description of the LandBOSSE implementation in SAM. (PDF 603 KB)

LandBOSSE source code on GitHub.

Offshore Balance of System Costs

Maness, M.; Maples, B.; Smith, A. (2017). NREL Offshore Balance-of-System Model. 49 pp. NREL/TP-6A20-66874. (PDF 4.7 MB)