pvlib.pvsystem.retrieve_sam

pvlib.pvsystem.retrieve_sam(name=None, path=None)[source]

Retrieve latest module and inverter info from a local file or the SAM website.

This function will retrieve either:

  • CEC module database
  • Sandia Module database
  • CEC Inverter database

and return it as a pandas DataFrame.

Parameters:

name : None or string

Name can be one of:

  • ‘CECMod’ - returns the CEC module database
  • ‘CECInverter’ - returns the CEC Inverter database
  • ‘SandiaInverter’ - returns the CEC Inverter database (CEC is only current inverter db available; tag kept for backwards compatibility)
  • ‘SandiaMod’ - returns the Sandia Module database

path : None or string

Path to the SAM file. May also be a URL.

If both name and path are None, a dialogue will open allowing the

user to select a file.

Returns:

samfile : DataFrame

A DataFrame containing all the elements of the desired database. Each column represents a module or inverter, and a specific dataset can be retrieved by the command

Notes

Files available at https://sam.nrel.gov/sites/default/files/

Examples

>>> from pvlib import pvsystem
>>> invdb = pvsystem.retrieve_sam('CECInverter')
>>> inverter = invdb.AE_Solar_Energy__AE6_0__277V__277V__CEC_2012_
>>> inverter
Vac           277.000000
Paco         6000.000000
Pdco         6165.670000
Vdco          361.123000
Pso            36.792300
C0             -0.000002
C1             -0.000047
C2             -0.001861
C3              0.000721
Pnt             0.070000
Vdcmax        600.000000
Idcmax         32.000000
Mppt_low      200.000000
Mppt_high     500.000000
Name: AE_Solar_Energy__AE6_0__277V__277V__CEC_2012_, dtype: float64