Design Decisions Shouldn’t Be Guesswork | At Pure Power, we use SAM simulations early in the process to shape smarter, more profitable solar + storage systems—optimizing inverter loading, minimizing curtailment, and ensuring developers and EPCs hit production targets. From utility-scale to community solar, our engineering team uses SAM in the early stages of design to drive informed decisions that minimize risk and maximize production. Whether it’s right-sizing inverters or forecasting clipping losses, we’re helping developers and EPCs move faster—with clarity and confidence. Watch our team walk through how we use SAM simulations to design solar + storage systems that perform in the real world—not just on paper.
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What if you could model your solar project so precisely that you knew before breaking ground exactly which design would before breaking ground exactly which design would yield the most energy cost the least to build and deliver the strongest long term return? That's not a “nice-to-have”. That's value engineering done right, and the tool to make it possible is called SAM the System Advisor Model. SAM is one of the most powerful simulation tools available to solar engineers but here's the thing it's often misunderstood or underutilized. Originally developed by the US Department of Energy SAM gives you more than just a production estimate. It lets you compare system designs in detail based on real world performance, site specific conditions and financial trade offs At Pure Power Engineering we use SAM to answer questions like That’s where SAM shines. It lets our team run side-by-side design comparisons with physics-based accuracy accounting for with physics-based accuracy accounting for tilt angle, module height, ground albedo DC, the AC ratios, tracker versus fixed tilt, and even storage dispatch. When it comes to bifacial systems, the gains can be significant. A 2% gain in annual production may not sound like much but across 10 megawatts that's hundreds of thousands of extra kilowatt hours every year. That energy adds up, especially under performance based PPAs or merchant pricing structures. SAM also helps developers and EPCs avoid over-design. Instead of upsizing a system just in case, we can size it to match real world performance expectations, cutting BOS costs and streamlining procurement. So what's the takeaway? SAM isn't just a modeling tool. It's a strategic advantage when it's in the hands of engineers who know how to use it. At Pure Power Engineering, we integrate SAM's simulations directly into our designs and development engineering workflows to help our clients build smarter, faster, and with more confidence. Whether you're exploring bifacial gains, DC coupling, or tracker layouts, SAM helps us get it right the first time.