System Advisor Model (SAM)

The System Advisor Model (SAM) is a performance and financial model designed to facilitate decision making for people involved in the renewable energy industry. SAM makes performance predictions and cost of energy estimates for grid-connected power projects based on installation and operating costs and system design parameters that you specify as inputs to the model.Projects can be either on the customer side of the utility meter, buying and selling electricity at retail rates, or on the utility side of the meter, selling electricity at a price negotiated through a power purchase agreement (PPA). SAM represents the cost and performance of renewable energy projects using computer models developed at NREL, Sandia National Laboratories, the University of Wisconsin, and other organizations. Each performance model represents a part of the system, and each financial model represents a project's financial structure. The models require input data to describe the performance characteristics of physical equipment in the system and project costs. SAM's user interface makes it possible for people with no experience developing computer models to build a model of a renewable energy project, and to make cost and performance projections based on model results.