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
  • Anton Driesse Inverter database

and return it as a pandas DataFrame.

Parameters:
  • name (None or string, default None) –

    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
    • ’ADRInverter’ - returns the ADR Inverter database
  • path (None or string, default None) – Path to the SAM file. May also be a URL.
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
Raises:

ValueError – If no name or path is provided.

Notes

Files available at
https://github.com/NREL/SAM/tree/develop/deploy/libraries
Documentation for module and inverter data sets:
https://sam.nrel.gov/photovoltaic/pv-sub-page-2.html

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