Installation Costs are costs associated with installing the system, and include equipment, labor, engineering, permitting, and any other costs that apply in Year 0 of the project cash flow. Some costs, such as debt-related and sales tax costs are specified on the Financial Parameters page.

SAM uses the variables on the Installation Costs page to calculate the project investment cost and annual operating costs reported in the project cash flow and used to calculate cost metrics.

Recurring costs that apply in Years 1 and later of the project cash flow are on the Operating Costs page.

Variable values in boxes with white backgrounds are values that you can edit. Boxes with blue backgrounds contain calculated values or values from other pages that SAM displays for your information.

SAM provides the categories under Direct Capital Costs and Indirect Capital Costs for your convenience to help keep track of project installation costs. Only the Total Installed Cost value affects the cash flow calculations, so you can assign capital costs to the different cost categories in whatever way makes sense for your analysis. For example, you could assign the cost of designing the array to the module cost category or to the engineering category with equivalent results. After you assign costs to the categories, you should verify that the total installed cost value is what you expect.

Notes.
 
The default cost values that appear when you create a file or case are intended to illustrate SAM's use. The cost data are meant to be realistic, but not to represent actual costs for a specific project. For more information and a list of online resources for cost data, see the technology pages on the SAM website.
 
The Installation Costs page only available for cases with a cash-flow-based financial model. It is not available with the No Financial Model option or the LCOE Calculator financial model.

Because only the Total Installed Cost value affects the cash flow calculations, you can assign capital costs to the different cost categories in whatever way makes sense for your analysis. For example, you could assign the cost of designing the power plant to the direct plant cost category or to the engineer-procure-construct category with equivalent results. The categories are provided to help you keep track of the different costs, but do not affect the economic calculations. After assigning costs to the categories, verify that the total installed costs value is what you expect.

Variable values in boxes with white backgrounds are values that you can edit. Boxes with blue backgrounds contain calculated values or values from other pages that SAM displays for your information.

Direct Capital Costs

A direct capital cost represents an expense for a specific piece of equipment or installation service that applies in year zero of the cash flow. Below are the major unit operations that contribute to the Total Direct Capital Cost calculation, and the appropriate units. Based on earlier inputs, SAM calculates the capacity of each item.

Boiler(s)

A cost per lb/hr steam

Turbine & Generator

A cost per kW of gross nameplate capacity to account for turbine and generator installation costs.

Fuel Handling Equipment

A cost per kW of gross nameplate capacity to account for fuel handling equipment costs.

Dryer

A cost per kW of gross nameplate capacity to account for feedstock drying equipment. This cost is only available when you choose Dry to Specified Moisture Content as the Biomass Feedstock Handling option on the Plant Specs page.

Other Equipment

A cost per kW of gross nameplate capacity to account for equipment not included in the categories above.

Balance of Plant

A cost per kW of gross nameplate capacity to account for plant-related costs not associated with specific components of the plant.

Contingency

A percentage of the sum of the above costs to account for expected uncertainties in direct cost estimates.

Total Direct Capital Cost, $

The sum of the direct capital costs, including contingency costs.

Indirect Capital Costs

An indirect cost is typically one that cannot be identified with a specific piece of equipment or installation service.

Engineer Procure Construct, % and $

Engineer-Procure-Construct costs, sometimes abbreviated as EPC costs, are costs associated with the design and construction of the project, which SAM calculates as the sum of a “non-fixed cost” and with a fixed cost.

Project Land Miscellaneous, % and $

Project-Land-Miscellaneous costs are those associated with the purchase and preparation of land, and other indirect costs not included in the EPC category.

% of Direct Cost

A value that you type as a percentage of Total Direct Capital Cost (under Direct Capital Costs)

Non-fixed Cost

A value that SAM calculates as the product of % of Direct Cost and Total Direct Capital Cost.

Fixed Cost

A value that you type as a fixed amount in dollars.

Total

A value that SAM calculates as the sum of Non-fixed Cost and Fixed Cost.

Total Indirect Cost, $

The sum of engineer-procure-construct costs, project-land-miscellaneous costs.

Sales Tax

Sales tax basis, %

The percentage of total direct cost used to the calculate sales tax amount.

SAM calculates the total sales tax amount by multiplying the sales tax rate from the Financial Parameters page by the sales tax basis on the Installation Costs page:

Total Sales Tax ($) = Sales Tax Rate (%) × Sales Tax Basis (%) × Total Direct Cost ($)

For an explanation of the effect of sales tax on income tax, see Sales Tax on the Financial Parameters topic for the financial model you are using (Residential, Commercial, Single Owner, etc.)

Total Installed Cost

The total installed cost is the sum of all of the direct and indirect capital costs and sales tax. SAM uses this value to calculate the project's net capital cost, which is the total installed cost less any cash incentives on the Incentives page and plus any additional financing costs from Financial Parameters page.

Total installed cost, $

The sum of total direct cost and total indirect cost.

Total installed cost per capacity

Total installed cost divided by the total system rated or nameplate capacity. This value is provided for reference only. SAM does not use it in cash flow calculations.

The units depend on the type of system: For photovoltaic systems: $/Wdc, for standalone battery systems: $/Wac, for other systems: $/kWac.