Comparison of PV system performance-model predictions with measured PV system performance

The U.S. Department of Energy has supported development of the Solar Advisor Model (SAM) to provide a common platform for evaluation of the solar energy technologies being developed with the support of the Department. This report describes a detailed comparison of performance-model calculations within SAM to actual measured PV system performance in order to evaluate the ability of the models to accurately predict PV system energy production. This was accomplished by using measured meteorological and irradiance data as an input to the models, and then comparing model predictions of solar and PV system parameters to measured values from co-located PV arrays. The submodels within SAM which were examined include four radiation models, three module performance models, and an inverter model. The PVWATTS and PVMod models were also evaluated.