NREL-PySAM

NREL-PySAM is a wrapper for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s System Advisor Model (SAM), a simulator for renewable energy, not to be confused with pysam, which is for reading sequence alignment files often used in genetics.

SAM is a performance and financial model designed to facilitate decision making for people involved in the renewable energy industry:

  • Project managers and engineers
  • Policy analysts
  • Technology developers
  • Researchers

SAM is open-source. PySAM provides a native Python interface for the models found in SAM Simulation Core, (SSC).

Getting Started

Learn how to install the package from PyPi or the Conda registry. Write your first PySAM script and run a renewable energy power system simulation in a few steps following some examples. Or, take a look at how cases from the SAM Desktop application can be imported into PySAM.

Models and Tools

PySAM offers all the technology and financial models available in SAM as separate modules. Learn about individual models and how to chain models together to create a configuration. PySAM includes tools that provide design and resource functionality.

Version 2.0 and Upgrading from Older Versions

Between major version changes, in addition to new features, modules and bug fixes, the group to which a variable belongs may change. The groups should stabilize after the initial releases. Please see Version 2.0.2 for more details.