We are now at the final step of our SAM project – the simulation of the PTC plant. To start the simulation, just click on the button Simulate in the bottom left corner of the main window.

When SAM finished the simulation, an overview of the main simulation results is shown. First, let's go through the main results in the table. The produced annual energy of the PTC plant is about 95 GWh. With the net annual energy output and the net capacity of the power block, SAM calculates the capacity factor of 21.8% using the formula shown here.

The capacity factor is a measure for the utilization of a power plant and for how many equivalent full-load hours the power block is running. The LCOE expresses the cost for the electricity generation with respect to the whole

operating lifetime of the PTC plant and considers all occurring costs during the lifetime. In SAM, a nominal and real LCOE value is shown. The real LCOE is adjusted for inflation whereas the nominal LCOE is calculated without inflation. Because we specified an inflation rate of 0% in the financial parameters section, the nominal and real value are the same.

The parameter net savings with system indicates the income generated by selling the electricity to the electricity service provider in the first year of operation. The value results from the difference of the two parameters electricity bill without system and electricity bill with system.

The net present value is a measure for the economic feasibility of a power plant project. In general, positive values indicate that a project is economically feasible. In the graph next to the table, the annual energy production is shown over the lifetime of the plant.

The annual output stays the same for each year because the same annual weather dataset is applied to the 25-year lifespan and we did not define any depreciation effects which reduce the annual output in SAM. Next, let's take a look at the operating parameters of the PTC system over time.

In the top menu bar of the results section, select the tab Time Series. A diagram appears in the center of the screen. In the legend on the right side, the values to be displayed in the diagram can be selected. Navigate to the second august by zooming in and dragging the slider located under the diagram.

Alternatively, you can zoom in to an area in the diagram by clicking the left mouse button, dragging an area and then releasing the left mouse button. Now search the parameters shown on the slide here and activate the checkboxes accordingly. You should end up with two individual diagrams.

In the upper diagram, the course of the DNI over the day is shown along with the thermal power output of the solar field and the thermal storage, charging and discharging rates. The DNI increases from about 5 am in the morning, reaches the peak around noon and then gradually reduces again until 8 pm.

The thermal power provided by the solar field follows the course of the DNI. Only between 10 am and 2 pm, the curve shows a dent. In this period, the power cycle is operated at nominal load and the thermal storage is fully charged, as can be seen in the second diagram below.

Therefore, the excess energy is dumped by slightly defocusing the solar field. In the evening and night time hours, the thermal storage is discharged and supplies energy to the power cycle. The charge level of the thermal storage is evenly reduced until 12 am, as can be seen here in the diagram. When the thermal storage is fully discharged, the power output of the power cycle drops.

In the second diagram, both the net and gross power output of the power cycle are shown. The difference results from the power acidic losses. With this brief look into the simulation results, we arrived at the end of this lecture about the simulation of a PTC plant with SAM.

I hope that you enjoyed the course and take away some helpful information for the handling of SAM. Thank you very much for listening.