The Edit Array window allows you to enter a single column of data. You can also import data from a text file, or export it.

Depending on the data you are entering you may see one of the following options:

Change time step

Click change time step to enter the simulation time step in minutes: 60 for hourly time steps, 15 for 15-minute time steps, etc.

Hourly Values (8760)

The input requires one column of 8760 values.

Note. SAM omits leap years from the simulation, so it assumes there are 24 hours/day ×  365 days/year = 8,760 hours/year, regardless of the year. It also does not account for daylight savings, so all times are in local standard time throughout the year. See Time and Sun Position for more details.

Number of values

Click Number of values to set the number of rows in the table.

You can copy data from your computer's clipboard or import it from a text file.

Copy

Click Copy to copy the data in the table to your computer's clipboard. You can then paste the data into a spreadsheet or text file.

Paste

Click Paste to paste time series data from your computer's clipboard into the table. For example, for hourly data, you could copy a column of 8,760 values from a spreadsheet or text file and paste it into SAM.

Import

Click Import to import time series data from a properly formatted text file. The file should contain one column of data, with a header in Row 1. SAM ignores the data in Row 1. To see an example of the file format, click Export and open the resulting file in a text editor.

Export

Click Export to export data from the table to a text file. Be sure to include a file extension (.txt, .csv, etc.) when you save the file.