SIM SIREN Help

All acronyms used in this help are defined in the list of acronyms
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SIREN - SEN's Interactive Renewable Energy Network tool

The SEN SAM simulation, SIREN, is used to calculate energy generation for renewable energy power stations. The program uses the SAM SDK API for energy calculations. SAM is provided by the NREL. This help briefly describes how to use the simulation.

Contents

Licence

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Affero General Public License for more details. You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License along with this program. If not, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/. The source for the program is included in the packaged versions and also available at https://github.com/ozsolarwind/siren (wiki). The programs are written Python 3.

Overview

Welcome to SEN's renewable energy conceptual simulation - SIREN.

The worlds renewable energy resources could provide many times the amount of fossil-fuelled energy currently used. SEN's computer simulation models an electricity network and allows you to create, cost and evaluate scenarios for supplying electricity using a mixture of renewable energy sources.

By placing virtual renewable energy plants around the area of interest, you will be able to determine the optimal locations to access renewable energy sources, minimise grid connection costs and meet the varying demand on the grid, while achieving the best in terms of efficiency, cost effectiveness and energy security.

This version of the Simulation uses the SAM SDK API for energy calculations. SAM is provided by the NREL.

Southern Western Australia (WA)

The default data provided with SIREN is for the SWIS in southern WA but the program(s) have been constructed to cover any geographic area with the appropriate input files. The techniques to create the required data files is documented in Supporting Notes.

About SEN

Sustainable Energy NOW, SEN (sen.asn.au), is a not-for-profit association incorporated in Western Australia (WA) with a focus on renewable energy.

Our Definition of Sustainable Energy: “Energy that is renewable within a human lifetime and can be produced safely and equitably for all time with minimal impact on the environment and future inhabitants”. We believe this does not include nuclear power with its many unresolved issues.

Our Focus: To raise awareness of how a mix of renewable energy technologies are able to meet WA's energy needs, with a particular focus on the main electricity grid, the SWIS.

Our Computer Simulation (SIREN): To demonstrate how electricity demand on the SWIS may be met by a mix of renewable energy sources. Users are able to explore potential location and scale of renewable energy sources (stations, storage, transmission) to meet electricity demand.

Installation

At present there is a packaged version of the simulation for Windows available as a self-extracting zip file from https://sourceforge.net/projects/sensiren/ (the package has been created with PyInstaller). There are a number of files available:

Occasionally new versions of some of the SIREN programs will be uploaded to SourceForge. You can check for new versions and download them by selecting the sirenupd option in SIREN. (Major new releases can also be indicated but these will require a complete new SIREN version to be installed.)

To install the required package you can just open/launch it and extract it to your desired location. It may be necessary to execute the program as Administrator.

It is also possible to install and run the Python programs. SIREN_Notes.html provides some guidance on how to do this.

Note: This help file may refer to individual programs either with or without the program suffix, for example powermap, powermap.exe or powermap.py. You may have to use the appropriate suffix for your environment.

sirensetup

If SIREN is installed in a read-only location as may happen if it is installed using the MSI package you may need to do some additional setup. For SIREN to execute correctly it needs the location for the SIREN Models (Preference files) and the Scenario folder to be writable. sirensetup can be used to copy the sample SIREN Preferences file, SIREN.ini, and sample Scenario files to a location of your choosing. It also creates a small file, run_siren.bat in the same location which can be used to invoke SIREN using your Scenario folder and the SIREN sample files.

Possible folder setup for SIREN

To enable new versions of SIREN to be installed without affecting your work a folder structure similar to the following is suggested.

Your Folder   Extract siren_application.exe here
...siren  siren folders and working files
 models  Repository for SIREN Models (Preferences files)
 Your model  Working files for your model
 ...scenarios Scenarios, save files, ...
  weather files SIREN weather files
 Another model  Working files for your second model
 ...scenarios Scenarios, save files, ...
  weather files SIREN weather files

You can indicate the location of your SIREN Models in one of two ways.

  1. Set up a (Desktop) Shortcut with the following Target to invoke SIREN (see below for further details): 
          "C:\..Your Folder\siren\siren.exe"
  2. Using the folder structure above as an example, set up a (Desktop) Shortcut with the following Target to invoke SIREN: 
          "C:\..Your Folder\siren\siren.exe" "..\models"

When setting up files and folders in your Preferences file (documented in Preferences) you can use relative addresses to point to the correct location. The addresses are relative to the siren folder. For example: 

      [Parents]
      $user1=../Your model
      ...
      [Files]
      solar_files=$user1/weather_files
      ...

Execution of SIREN

To execute the simulation open siren.exe in the upper folder, siren. You can easily set up a Desktop shortcut to point to the model. The package contains a number of folders with default files, some that can be replaced with your own. The location of these files are defined in a Preferences file as documented in Preferences. The default files are located in the following folders:

The first time you open SIREN (without passing a target file or folder) it will present a window titled ‘Choose location for SIREN model (preferences) files’ to allow you to choose the location for your SIREN Models. SIREN stores this location in siren_models_location.txt in a user folder and uses this as the location of the SIREN Models whenever you invoke SIREN without a target file or location. In windows the file is stored in the user's LocalAppData folder, C:\User\<user>\AppData\Local\siren\, and in Linux it is in ~/.siren/. The file contains a single line with the location of the folder respective to the siren folder. It is possible to edit the file and manually add additional folders if desired.

When you open SIREN you will be presented with a list of SIREN Models (Preferences files). Choose the SIREN Model you want by (left-) clicking on your choice to invoke Powermap for that model. It is also possible to launch tools for the model by right-clicking on your choice - the tools are as described in Tools - or you can edit the Model file. You can sort the list presented in order of either Preferences File, SIREN Model or Date modified (last time the Preferences file was saved) by right-clicking the appropriate column header. If a Model file has a syntax error this will be identified in the SIREN Model field; editing such a file will, where possible, highlight the line in error. If you want to use a specific Preferences file you can open the simulation passing the alternate filename, or a folder, as a parameter, as in these examples:

      siren.exe
      siren.exe SIREN_NWIS.ini
      siren.exe ../<folder>/SIREN_NWIS.ini
      siren.exe ../<folder with preferences files>/

If you specify a folder you will be presented with a list of SIREN Models (Preferences files) in that folder. You can either specify the folder as the full path or relative to the siren folder. Placing your models in a separate folder will make it easier to install updates to SIREN without impacting your data files.

If you want to create a new Model press the New Model button on the start up menu. You will be presented with a small list of Properties to update to create a new Preferences file. Many of these properties relate to files and file locations as described in Setting Up. It's important to ensure they're correct for the new model to open. For the file fields click on the field to navigate to the desired file or folder. At the bottom of the Create Preferences file menu you have options to Save the new file, Save the new file and edit it, or Save it and open (launch) the new model. If you specified a folder when you opened SIREN, the new model will be saved in that folder.

When you launch a SIREN model you may receive either a warning message or a status window indicating possible issues with the Preferences file (Notes in Preferences might assist).

SIREN Menu Options

SIREN has a small number of menu options.

Tools Invoke SIREN tools. This will launch the chosen tool as a new task

flexiplot  flexiplot Invoke flexiplot to create charts from Excel columns or rows (see Flexiplot)
getera5  getera5 Invoke getera5 to download ERA5 data files (see Get ERA5 Files)
getmap  getmap Invoke getmap to create a map image for SIREN (see Obtaining a Suitable Map Image)
getmerra2  getmerra2 Invoke getmerra2 to download MERRA-2 data files (see Get MERRA-2 Files)
makeweatherfiles  makeweatherfiles Invoke makeweatherfiles to create weather files for SAM (see Produce wind and solar weather files)
powerplot  powerplot Invoke powerplot to create charts from Powermodel and Powermatch outputs (see Powerplot)
sirenupd  sirenupd Occasionally new versions of some of the SIREN programs will be uploaded to SourceForge. You can check for new versions and download them by selecting this option
Right-click
Tools		 Invoke additional SIREN tools. Right-clicking on a model will present a menu of tools, as above, plus these additional tools for the chosen model

indexweather  indexweather Invoke indexweather to create an index for weather files (see Using other Weather Files)
makegrid  makegrid Invoke makegrid to create resource grid file (see Visualising Renewable Resource Attributes)
powermap  powermap Launch powermap for the chosen Model
powermatch  powermatch Invoke powermatch to match generation to demand (load) and to quantify and cost dispatchable energy generation, storage and CO2‑e emissions (see Powermatch)
updateswis  updateswis Invoke updateswis to update the list of existing SWIS Stations (facilities; see Existing Stations (Facilities)) or SWIS Load data
Edit Preferences  Edit Preferences Edit the Preferences file. This option invokes a simple text editor to allow the whole file to be edited
Edit File Preferences  Edit File Preferences Edit Parents, Files and SAM Modules Sections of the Preferences file. These sections mainly have file and folder Properties. By clicking on a Property you can navigate to the desired file or folder.
Edit Preferences  Copy Preferences Copy the chosen Preferences file. This option allows you to copy an existing Preferences file - with a new name
Delete Preferences  Delete Preferences Delete the chosen Preferences file. This option allows you to delete the chosen Preferences file. A confirmation pop-up will be displayed to ensure you have chosen the correct file (theer are sometimes cases where the incorrect file may be chosen by the program so beware)
Help Display some help about the program

Help  Help (F1) Display the help file. The default help file, help.html, is a standard HTML file which can be displayed with your browser
About  About (Ctrl+I) Display details about the simulation including any licensing conditions

Sample SIREN Model

The sample SIREN model is for the SWIS for some recent years. The default Preferences files, SIREN.ini, is set up for this data and assumes the siren_sample folder is located in the same parent folder as the siren folder. The sample data contains:

Note: To save on storage the sample weather files may be in compressed format. In these cases the file types will be .smz for solar and .srz for wind, each file containing a single .smw or .srw file.

Experimental features

There are some experimental features in SIREN which may or may not be further developed. These are identified within this help by a red bounding box.

Setting Up

The simulation uses external data files to model the potential for renewable energy generation for a geographic region. The approach is to model the data on an hourly basis for a desired year (ignoring leap days, that is, 8,760 hours). The following data files are required / desirable. Due to the initial source for each data file the format for each is different (see SIREN File Formats for further details). Please feedback any desired formats as it's relatively easy to accommodate standard file formats.

You can successfully use the simulation with just the map and weather data while existing load and network data enhance it's usefulness.

A note about hours

Due to inconsistency between power (SAM) and weather data / files, hours of the day are portrayed differently. For example, looking at the hour between midnight and 1:00AM:- in power data the hour is shown as the start of the hour, 00:00, while for weather data it is the end of the hour, 01:00.

Simulation Objects

The simulation has two main objects, stations and grid lines. Stations can be saved as scenarios in either an Excel (XLS or XLSX) or CSV file format while grid lines are constructed during the simulation rather than being saved to a file (unless you have manually created the grid line).

Stations

Stations represent either existing generation stations on the grid or new ones you have created during a simulation session. The station files can be updated outside of the simulation. The fields for a station are:

Station Name The name you assigned to the station. They must be unique within a simulation session. If you add a new scenario with a station that has the same name as one already active the program will append a number to make the name(s) unique
Technology One of the defined technologies:- Biomass, CST, Fixed PV, Geothermal, Offshore Wind, Rooftop PV, Single Axis PV, Solar Thermal, Dual Axis PV (Tracking PV), Wind (refer to SAM Models used by SIREN), and
BESS (Battery), Hydro, Wave and Other (refer to Other Models used by SIREN (experimental))
Note: SIREN uses two of the SAM Concentrated Solar Power models. Solar Thermal is the SAM model for Power tower concentrating solar power (molten salt and direct steam) and CST is A simple "generic model" for conventional thermal
Latitude Southern latitudes are negative
Longitude Western longitudes are negative
Maximum Capacity (MW) Maximum capacity of the station. This is the amount of power the station produces for export into the network
Note: In the case of PV (and biomass) SAM uses nameplate capacity as the basis for it's calculations. SIREN has been designed to use generation capacity. The PV capacity figures you input into SIREN are increased by the dc_ac_ratio to give the nameplate capacity before they are passed to SAM
Turbine The type of turbine for a Wind station. The name must be either one of the turbines in the Turbine file provided by SAM or the name of a turbine power (.POW) file.
Note: When editing a Wind or Offshore station you will be presented with the list of turbines available. Initially, the list is sorted in name order. You can toggle the sort order between name order and turbine size by clicking on the Turbine: label field.
Rotor Diam The rotor diameter of the turbine for a Wind station
Hub Height The hub height of the turbine for a Wind station. This may be optional if the height can be derived another way such as a hub_formula property in the [Offshore Wind] or [Wind] Section of the Preferences file
No. turbines The number of turbines in the wind farm
Area The estimated area for the station. This is (currently) calculated by the simulation so you need not enter a value. Stations will be displayed on the map with either a square or circle representing their physical footprint (the shape can be set by setting station_shape in the [Grid] Section of the Preferences file)
Power File If the technology you're interested in is not available in the simulation or you encounter problems you can provide your own power file which contains power output for each hour of the year. This can be produced using SAM itself. Within SAM you display output data, select the Hourly energy data and export the file as either CSV or Excel (XLS or XLSX), and place the file in the same location as your scenario files. When the Power Model is run the program will use this data rather than invoking the SAM module for that station
Storage Hours The number of hours of storage for CST and Solar Thermal stations. If the value isn't set SIREN will use the tshours property in the [CST] or [Solar Thermal] Section of the Preferences file
Grid Line If you have edited the grid line for a station (see Right Mouse Click) this will record the coordinates for the grid line as a series of latitude, longitude values
Direction For PV stations you can specify the direction in which the panels are facing as a character representation of the direction. Acceptable values are:- N, NNE, NE, ENE, E, ESE, SE, SSE, S, SSW, SW, WSW, W, WNW, NW or NNW. The default is N for southern latitude stations and S for northern latitude (that is, towards the midday sun)
Tilt For PV stations you can specify the angle at which the panels are tilted. By default the tilt angle is set to the latitude of the station

When you display a Station with SIREN it will also show the Scenario the Station is in. For new Stations (i.e. not Existing) it is possible to update this value to one of the other scenarios that are currently “open“. This will move the Station into that scenario and, if the scenario is saved move it permanently into that Scenario.

Grid Lines

Grid lines connect new stations to either existing or other new grid lines. By default the grid line will connect a station to the nearest point on the grid. You can edit a grid line if you wish to connect it elsewhere in the grid. Grid lines are recalculated when you add or modify stations but are not normally saved. You can, however, list the (new) grid lines and save the table listed. The fields for a grid are:

Name The name of the station the grid line connects from
Coordinates Coordinates for the start and end of the grid line as latitude, longitude values
Dispatchable If the grid connects “dispatchable” technology this will be set to Y
Initial If the grid line is part of the initial (existing) grid and the information is available this will display the capacity in kV for the line
Length The length of the grid line
Line Cost The estimated cost of the grid line. This is based upon the length and type of line(s)
Line Table This describes the type and number of grid line types for this line. A grid line in the simulation may represent a number of different grid lines to enable the peak load to be carried. The grid line types are described below
Peak Dispatchable The sum of capacities for dispatchable stations connected to/by this grid line
Peak Load The sum of capacities for all stations connected to/by this grid line
Peak Loss An estimate of the peak loss for the line. This is calculated by applying the grid loss value to the sum of all station capacities connected to/by this grid line
Substation Cost There are a range of costs related to the infrastructure at both ends of the line. We'll use the term substation_costs to embrace all these costs. Each line that ultimately ends up reaching the load centre will have a peak load for all stations that follow that particular path to the load centre. These lines will have substation costs based upon the peak load. The costs will/may be allocated across all stations in the path

Types of Grid Lines

A grid is built up of a number of different types of line to enable differing loads to be carried. Each line has a maximum carrying capacity. Greater loads require additional lines to be added; so in this simulation one line may represent multiple grid lines as described in the Line Table for the line. For dispatchable transmission we need an extra path for backup purposes (N-1) while no such backup is required for non-dispatchable loads (N-0). For a line carrying both we'll use a criteria of N-0 for total load plus N-1 for dispatchable load. Within this simulation line types and costs can be specified (somewhat cryptically) in the [Grid] Section of the Preferences file. The default set of lines are:

  non-Dispatchable Dispatchable
Power range (MW) Line Type(s) Cost per km Substation Cost Line Type(s) Cost per km Substation Cost
0 - 250 220_s $0.6M $7.0M 220_d $0.9M $8.0M
250 - 500 330_s $1.0M $8.0M 330_d $1.5M $10.0M
500 - 1,000 330_d $1.5M $10.0M 330_d + 330_s $2.5M $18.0M
1,000 - 1,500 330_d + 330_s $2.5M $18.0M 330_d x 2 $3.0M $20.0M

Above 500MW it's a case of alternately adding 330_s and 330_d costs.

Preferences

Many options can be specified by a Preferences file. When you open SIREN you will be presented with a list of available Preferences files (SIREN Models) to choose from. These files reside in the same folder as SIREN itself (they may be placed in a different folder by passing that folder as a parameter when SIREN is invoked). The format is similar to a Windows INI file. If you want to create a new Model you can press the New Model button on the start up menu. You will be presented with a small list of Properties to update to create a new Preferences file.

The Preferences file has the following Sections and properties. The file is a simple text file which must be saved in the siren folder and have a file type of .ini (INI File). The sample siren_default.ini or siren_windows_default.ini file will provide a useful guide as to the content.

There are three special strings which will be replaced in the Files properties variables:

Note: Technologies appear in two forms in the Preferences file. They appear in the Preferences Sections as words starting with an uppercase letter and separated by spaces (e.g Fixed PV with the Section name [Fixed PV]). In the Section Properties the technology names are changed to all lower case and spaces are replaced by underscores. Thus, Fixed PV will appear as fixed_pv. The lower case versions occur in the [Colors] Section and [Grid] dispatchable, [Power] fossil_technologies, and [Power] technologies variables.

(Skip to Using the Simulation)

Shortcut to Sections:- Backtrack PV, Base, BESS (Battery), Biomass, Colors, CST, Dataview, Dual Axis PV, Files, Financial, Fixed PV, Flexiplot, Fossil Coal, Fossil Cogen, Fossil Gas, Fossil Mixed, Geothermal, Grid, Hydro, Map, Offshore Wind, Other, Parents, Plot Colours, Power, Powermatch, Powerplot, PV, Rooftop PV, SAM Modules, Single Axis PV, Solar Thermal, Storage, View, Wave, Wind, Windows.

Section Properties
[Backtrack PV] Specifics on Backtrack PV characteristics. Properties are:

area Estimated area in km2 per MW
capital_cost Capital cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
dc_ac_ratio DC to AC ratio. Default value is as specified in the [PV] Section
icon Icon to display for this technology. Default is solar_pv_g.png
o_m_cost Operations and Maintenance cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
[Base] Base properties are:

existing Include/exclude existing power stations on startup
name A brief name for the model represented by this Preferences file
year Year of interest
years Specify the range of years available for processing. This can be specified as a list separated by commas and/or a range of years separated by a hyphen. For example, 2008, 2010-2015
[BESS] Specifics on BESS (Battery) characteristics. Properties are:

area Estimated area in km2 per MW
capital_cost Capital cost per MWh. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
icon Icon to display for this technology. Default is bess_g.png
o_m_cost Operations and Maintenance cost per MWh. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
[Biomass] Specifics on Biomass characteristics. Properties are:

area Estimated area in km2 per MW
capital_cost Capital cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
fuel_cost Fuel cost per tonne (of biomass)
icon Icon to display for this technology. Default is biomass_g.png
multiplier Multiply the station capacity by this value to simulate the appropriate level of feedstock. A figure of between 8.2 and 8.5 gives Capacity Factors between 0.65 and 0.92
o_m_cost Operations and Maintenance cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
[Colors] Colours for things. It is possible to have different colours for different maps by appending the map_choice value to Colors, e.g. [Colors1]. It is possible to edit colours and save the changes via a menu option. Standard colours are:

white, black, red, darkRed, green, darkGreen, blue, darkBlue, cyan, darkCyan, magenta, darkMagenta, yellow, darkYellow, gray, darkGray, lightGray and transparent; or you can use #rrggbb to specify red-green-blue HTML colour shades.

Colour properties are:

background Colour for the background surrounding the map
border Provide a border colour for station circles
fossil_name
grid_boundary
grid_trace The colour for tracing a grid connection
new_grid Additional grid lines for new stations
ruler Colour for the ruler and legend text. If you specify a value of guess the ruler should display white on dark and black on light (but it's not perfect)
station
station_name
town
town_name

There are colours for each of the energy technologies:

backtrack_pv
biomass
fixed_pv
geothermal
offshore_wind
rooftop_pv
single_axis_pv
solar_thermal
dual_axis_pv (or tracking_pv)
wave
wind  Also used as the storage colour for the Augmented power chart
fossil
fossil_coal
fossil_cogen
fossil_distillate
fossil_gas
fossil_mixed

There are colours used for the electricity grid transmission lines. The values are in part defined by the elements of the grid KML files as described in SIREN File Formats:

grid_<line_capacity> for the grid network used by SIREN
grid2_<line_capacity> for the detailed grid network not used by SIREN
grid_areas for grid areas
grid_zones for grid zones

There are colours used for the resource grids:

dhi_high
dhi_low
dni_high
dni_low
ghi_high
ghi_low
temp_high
temp_low
wind_high
wind_low
wind50_high
wind50_low

There are colours used for non-technology chart items:

cumulative Also used as the used renewable generation colour for the Augmented power chart
gross_load Also used as the total renewable generation for the Augmented power chart
load
shortfall Also used as the augmented generation colour for the Augmented power chart
[CST] Specifics on CST characteristics. Properties are:

area Estimated area in km2 per MW
capital_cost Capital cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
gross_net Estimated gross to net power conversion factor
icon Icon to display for this technology. Default is solar_g.png
o_m_cost Operations and Maintenance cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
optical_table Mirror layout file. Provided by SIREN (from SAM modelling)
tshours Hours of storage. The default is 0
volume Storage volume in m3 per MW per hour of storage. Default is 12.9858
[Dataview]
(experimental)
Options for Data View. Properties for individual files (columns, file, grid, maximum, percentage, period, chart (plot), series, sheet, title, xlabel, xvalues, and ylabel; marked with an asterisk, *, below) can be repeated a number of times to allow a history of recent files to be accessed. These are suffixed with a number. Properties are as follows:

columns (*) List of technologies available to be charted
file (*) Spreadsheet filename
file_choices How many files to keep in a recent history list. The default is 10
file_history The order of the recent history list
grid_centre Centre charts on the MERRA-2 grid. The default is False
number_colour Set the colour for number (pct.) labels
number_dynamic Set to True to adjust the size of numbers displayed to vary dynamically based upon the percentage range. The default is False, which displays numbers based upon a range starting at 0
number_min Only display percentage equal to or greater than the value. The range is 0 to 100 and the default value is 0
number_multiple Set to True to display percentages for each bar of a Bar Chart. The default is False, which displays a single percentage
number_show Set to True to display numbers and False to not display numbers. The default is True
number_steps Set the steps to adjust the size of numbers displayed. The default steps are 80, 60, 40, 20
plot (*) The type of chart. Options are Bar Chart, Pie Chart. The default is Bar Chart
plot_centre Set to True to centre the chart in the chart cell; set to False to show the chart in the top left of the cell. The default is True
plot_opacity Opacity of chart values. Range is 1.0 (opaque) to 0.0 (translucent). Default value is 1.0
plot_rotate Set to True to rotate Bar Charts to have vertical bars. The default is False (horizontal bars)
plot_scale Set a scale for the graphs. The default 1.
sheet (*) Worksheet name for chart
show_maximums Display maximum values to allow one set of maximums to be used for another sheet
[Dual Axis PV]
or
[Tracking PV]		 Specifics on Dual Axis PV (or Tracking PV) characteristics. Properties are:

area Estimated area in km2 per MW
capital_cost Capital cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
dc_ac_ratio DC to AC ratio. Default value is as specified in the [PV] Section
icon Icon to display for this technology. Default is solar_pv_g.png
o_m_cost Operations and Maintenance cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
[Files] Files and directories. You can either specify the folder as the full path or relative to the siren folder (not the folder the Preferences file resides in). Properties are:

about About file
actual_power File containing actual generation data. If the actual property in [Power] is True generation data will be derived from this file rather than using SAM. The files must reside in the scenarios folder
bom List of BOM weather stations in WA
check Problems are often encountered executing SIREN because file properties resolve to invalid values. By default SIREN will check files on initialisation and output any unresolved values in the status window. To turn off this checking set this property to False
data_file File to save power output if the save_data property in [Power] is True
grid_areas File (KML or KMZ file) defining areas within the map. These can be used to help visualise such things as environmentally sensitive areas. The property can be suffixed with a number 1 through 5 to enable a number of files with different areas to be loaded (at present there is only one colour option, grid_areas)
grid_boundary Electricity network (SWIS) boundary file (KML or KMZ file)
grid_network Schematic of Electricity network (KML or KMZ file). This version of the network is used by SIREN to connect new stations into the network. This should be a very simple version of the grid with all network lines accurately connected
grid_stations List of power stations on the grid. These stations will be identified as Existing. For the SWIS Grid these are obtained from AEMO (http://data.wa.aemo.com.au/#facilities)
grid_stations2 Additional power stations you want to include in the set of Existing stations. This can cater for such things as embedded solar - Rooftop PV - installed on the grid but not registered with AEMO
grid_zones File (KML or KMZ file) defining zones within the grid boundary. This allows generation by zone to be calculated
grid2_network Schematic of Electricity network (KML or KMZ file). This version of the network can be used to provide a more detailed view of the actual network. It isn't used by SIREN
help Help file
load Hourly load data for the grid. For the SWIS Grid prior to October 2023 these were obtained from AEMO Operational Load data (http://data.wa.aemo.com.au/#load-summary)
pm_template Template file for Powermatch inputs. If no value is specified inputs will be saved in the original Powerbalance format
pow_files Location of turbine power curve files for those not in SAM's file
resource_grid File to assist with showing the resource grid
sam_sdk Location of SAM SDK folders
sam_turbines SAM's turbine file; including power curves
scenario Default initial scenario
scenario_prefix filename prefix for scenarios of additional/proposed renewable power stations. If specified, all scenarios must start with this value. You can either use this property to specify the prefix or use the tail of the scenarios property
scenarios Location of scenarios of additional/proposed renewable power stations. You can also use this property to specify the filename prefix for scenarios. In this case, the value should end with an * (e.g. Scenario* and all scenarios must start with this value (less the *)
solar_files Location of solar (.smw) weather files. If there is no solar_index file the filename must includes the geographic location of the file to enable a search for the file nearest to a location. The format is <location_latitude_longitude_year.smw>
solar_index An index of filenames and geographic locations for solar weather files. If specified this will be used to find the nearest solar weather file to a location
towns List of towns in WA. Augments list of BOM weather stations
variable_files Location of SAM module default variables files
wind_files Location of wind (.srw) weather files. If there is no wind_index file the filename includes the geographic location of the file - <location_latitude_longitude_year.srw>
wind_index An index of filenames and geographic locations for wind weather files.
[Financial] Financial options. When running the financial Power Models you will be presented with this list of properties. They can be altered and saved. Properties are:

analysis_period Analysis period in years (e.g. 30)
debt_fraction Debt fraction. Can be suffixed with % for readability, for example, 0%
depr_fed_sl_years Federal depreciation straight-line Years (e.g. 20)
depr_fed_type Federal depreciation type. 2 = straight line
federal_tax_rate Federal Tax Rate. Can be suffixed with % for readability, for example, 30%
grid_costs Include Grid costs in LCOE calculations for financial models. This only includes the cost of the grid to connect the station into the main grid and for the capacity of the station
grid_losses Reduce power figures by the amount of grid losses before running financial models
grid_path_costs Include Grid path costs in LCOE calculations for financial models. This includes the cost of the grid to connect the station to the load centre for the capacity of the station. At present it excludes substation costs. This option may over-inflate grid costs as each station path to the load centre is traced individually
inflation_rate Inflation rate. Can be suffixed with % for readability, for example, 0%
insurance_rate Insurance rate. Can be suffixed with % for readability, for example, 0%
loan_rate Loan rate. Can be suffixed with % for readability, for example, 0%
loan_term Loan term in years (e.g. 0)
market Utility IPP (0) or Commercial PPA (1)
min_dscr_target Minimum required DSCR (e.g. 1.4)
min_dscr_required Minimum DSCR required (e.g. 1)
min_irr_target Minimum required IRR. Can be suffixed with % for readability, for example, 15%
optimize_lcoe_wrt_debt_fraction Optimise LCOE with respect to debt percent (e.g. 0)
positive_cashflow_required Positive cash flow required. 1 = yes
real_discount_rate Real discount rate. Can be suffixed with % for readability, for example, 0%
salvage_percentage Salvage percentage. Can be suffixed with % for readability, for example, 0%
[Fixed PV] Specifics on Fixed PV characteristics. Properties are:

area Estimated area in km2 per MW
capital_cost Capital cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
dc_ac_ratio DC to AC ratio. Default value is as specified in the [PV] Section
icon Icon to display for this technology. Default is solar_pv_g.png
o_m_cost Operations and Maintenance cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
[Flexiplot]
(experimental)
Options for Flexiplot. Properties for individual files (file, grid, maximum, percentage, period, plot (chart), sheet, title, xextra, xlabel, xoffset, xseries, ylabel, yseries, and zlabel; marked with an asterisk, *, below) can be repeated a number of times to allow a history of recent files to be accessed. These are suffixed with a number. Properties are as follows:

alpha Opacity of chart fill for values above target. Range is 1.0 (opaque) to 0.0 (translucent). Default value is 0.25
background_3d If set to True a pale grey background colour is display for axes in 3D Surface Charts. Default is False
colourbars_3d Define colour bars for surfaces in 3D Surface Charts. Indidual colour bars can be defined by enclosing a series of html colours between brackets, for example (#006633,#ff7800,#e8001f),(#ffff00,#00a933,#ff0000) defines two colour bars - green,orange,red and yellow,orange,red
constrained_layout Produce a chart layout with no whitespace around the graph. Default is False
contours_3d If set to True contour lines will be displayed on 3D Surface Charts. The default is False
file (*) Spreadsheet filename
file_choices How many files to keep in a recent history list. The default is 10
file_history The order of the recent history list
grid (*) The gridlines to be included on the chart. Options are Both, Horizontal, Vertical and None. The default is None
html_3d If set to True a HTML version of a 3D Surface Charts will be created. The file will be saved in the sane folder and name as the file being displayed with a file type of html. The default is False
label_font Font properties for chart labels
legend_font Saved details on Legend font properties
legend_ncol This property allows you to specify the number of legend columns for those Pie Charts with a legend. Default is 1
legend_on_pie If set to True labels for a Pie Chart will be placed on the chart, if False the legend will be presented as a table. If set to Pct (Percent) the legend will be persented as a table and pie percentages will be placed on the chart. The default is True
legend_side Indicate to adjust the chart area to place the legend. Values are None (the default), Left or Right
maximum (*) Maximum value for Series (y) axis. Default is 0 (meaning dynamic y axis)
minimum_3d flexiplot attempts to identify if input data is possibly in table format suitable for a 3D Surface Chart by identifying duplicate data rows. If the count of duplicate rows is greater than the threshold it will “hide” the duplicate rows from Ordinate (Y) series. The default is 10
legend_font Font properties for chart legend
palette Invoke the Colours editor to create a palette of colours for selected columns. Default is True
percentage (*) Produce a percentages chart
plot (*) The type of chart. Options are Bar Chart, Cumulative, Heat Map, Line Chart, Pie Chart, Step Line Chart or Step Day Chart. The default is Cumulative
plot_palette A colour palette to be used for data series without a defined colour. Values can be random, 15 or 24. The default is random. 15 and 24 are colour palettes for colour blindness while random generates a random colour
sheet (*) Worksheet name for chart
sparse_ticks You can specify how often X Axis ticks appear. The default is all
target (*) Target field to chart against, e.g. Load
ticks_font Font properties for label tick marks
title (*) Chart title
title_font Font properties for chart title. Default fontsize is x-large
xextra (*) Add an additional cell to identify the X series
xlabel (*) The label for the X series (axis)
xoffset (*) The cell identifying the row or column for X and Y series
xseries (*) The cell value identifying the start of the X series
ylabel (*) The label for the Y series (axis)
yseries (*) The cell values to be included in the chart, the Y series (axis)
zlabel (*) The label for the Z series (axis)
[Fossil Coal] Specifics on Fossil Coal characteristics. Properties are:

area Estimated area in km2 per MW
capital_cost Capital cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
icon Icon to display for this technology. Default is fossil_g.png
o_m_cost Operations and Maintenance cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
[Fossil Cogen] Specifics on Fossil Cogeneration characteristics. Properties are:

area Estimated area in km2 per MW
capital_cost Capital cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
icon Icon to display for this technology. Default is fossil_g.png
o_m_cost Operations and Maintenance cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
[Fossil Gas] Specifics on Fossil Gas characteristics. Properties are:

area Estimated area in km2 per MW
capital_cost Capital cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
icon Icon to display for this technology. Default is fossil_g.png
o_m_cost Operations and Maintenance cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
[Fossil Mixed] Specifics on Fossil Mixed fuel characteristics. Properties are:

area Estimated area in km2 per MW
capital_cost Capital cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
icon Icon to display for this technology. Default is fossil_g.png
o_m_cost Operations and Maintenance cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
[Geothermal] Specifics on Geothermal characteristics. Properties are:

area Estimated area in km2 per MW
capital_cost Capital cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
icon Icon to display for this technology. Default is hot_rocks_g.png
o_m_cost Operations and Maintenance cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
resource Type of geothermal resource. Values can be 'Hydrothermal' or 'EGS' (or 'HDR'). The default is 'Hydrothermal'
[Grid] Grid properties are:

cost_existing If set to True grid costs will include costing the existing grid. Thus, you can assume the existing grid is at capacity and allow a new grid to be built that follows the same corridors
dispatchable The list of technologies to be treated as “dispatchable”. These technologies may require a more robust transmission line. The list is:- pumped_hydro, geothermal, biomass, solar_thermal
d_lines Defines a table for grid lines to support varying amounts of peak dispatchable power. It defines dispatchable transmission line types for increasing loads of peak dispatchable power. It uses the table defined by line_costs to produce lines types and costs. The format of each entry is (peak_power=line_types) to define the maximum power for each set of line types. Entries are enclosed in brackets. You can also specify a loop to create a table of increasing values. Example: (250=220_d),(for(n=1,10,(n*1000-500=330_d*n),(n*1000=330_d*n + 330_s))) will create the dispatchable line cost entries in Types of Grid Lines up to a maximum of 10,000MW
ignore_deleted_existing If set to True existing stations marked as Deleted will be ignored when existing stations are loaded. At present it is specific to SWIS stations (but could be extended in future). The default is True
line_costs A list of the line types and their costs per km separated by commas. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions. Example: (220_s=0.6M, 220_d=0.9M, 330_s=1.0M, 330_d=1.5M) describes the lines in Types of Grid Lines
line_loss Line loss percentage per 1,000 kilometres. Can be suffixed with % for readability, for example, 6.93%
load_centre To assist with tracing grid lines for a station you can specify “load centres” where a grid could connect towards (not yet to). This is a series of latitudes and longitudes separated by commas, for example -20.381723,118.586250, -20.621698,117.161738. You can also precede the coordinates with a name for the centre, for example (Perth, -31.9231, 115.8840). It is not possible to mix the two formats. The geographic location of the load centre also needs to be included in the coordinates for the network lines (as defined in the grid_network file)
s_lines Defines a table for grid lines to support varying amounts of peak non-dispatchable power. It defines non-dispatchable transmission line types for increasing loads of peak power. It uses the table defined by line_costs to produce lines types and costs. The format of each entry is (peak_power=line_types) to define the maximum power for each set of line types. Entries are enclosed in brackets. You can also specify a loop to create a table of increasing values. Example: (250=220_s),(500=330_s),(for(n=1,10,(n*1000=330_d*n),(n*1000+500=330_d*n + 330_s))) will create the dispatchable line cost entries in Types of Grid Lines up to a maximum of 10,500MW
substation_costs A list of the line types and their substation costs separated by commas. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions. Example: (220_s=7M, 220_d=8M, 330_s=8M, 330_d=10M) describes the lines in Types of Grid Lines
substation_loss Losses associated with substation infrastructure. Can be suffixed with % for readability, for example, 0.62%
trace grid If set to True this option will cause the model to trace grid connections as far back as possible and add this downstream capacity to peak load for each grid line
trace_existing If set to True this option will cause the model to trace grid connections for existing stations as well. If there are a large number of existing stations (and a complex grid) this can take a long time to process
[Hydro]
(experimental)
Specifics on Hydroelectric power characteristics (experimental). Properties are:

area Estimated area in km2 per MW
capital_cost Capital cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
cf Capacity Factor. As SAM does not have a model for Hydro the approach SIREN uses is to simulate power generation using a capacity factor to produce a “straight line” power output
icon Icon to display for this technology. Default is hydro_g.png
o_m_cost Operations and Maintenance cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
[Map] Details on the map including geographic boundaries. Properties are:

map Map file showing area of interest. The map can be any graphic image, even a blank image such as provided in the sample files as blank.jpg
map_choice It is possible to choose one of a number of maps using the map_choice parameter. Properties suffixed with the map_choice value will override the default values. For example, map_choice=1 will use values from map1 etc. and will use colours from the [Colors1] section. It is also possible (in fact may be the only thing that works) to suffix the map properties with the map_choice value to provide a value for each map
projection Map projection such as EPSG:3857. EPSG:3857 (WGS 84 / Popular Visualisation Pseudo-Mercator) is a Spherical Mercator projection coordinate system popularised by web services such as Google and later OpenStreetMap. It allows an area of the earth to be projected as a rectangle
lower_right lower right corner of the map in format latitude, longitude. Suffixed by map_choice. For example, map_choice=1 will use lower_right1
lower_right<map> lower right corner of the map for map_choice=map in format latitude, longitude
scale Scale of renewable station areas. True=scale renewable station areas to true size; False=display as a standard size
upper_left Upper left corner of the map in format latitude, longitude. Suffixed by map_choice. For example, map_choice=1 will use upper_left1
upper_left<map> Upper left corner of the map for map_choice=map in format latitude, longitude
[Offshore Wind] Specifics on offshore wind and turbine spacing. Properties are:

area Multiplier to compute an area of area x number of turbines x rotor diameter2
capital_cost Capital cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
extrapolate The law (model) to extrapolate wind speed data. This can be either Hellmann or logarithmic. Default is logarithmic
hub_formula Provide a formula to calculate hub height for larger turbines to extrapolate wind speed data. Default is None
hub_spread Provide a spread of wind heights such that if an existing wind speed height is within this spread of the hub height the wind speed won't be extrapolated. SAM's windpower model requires the closest wind speed measurement height to be within 35 m of the hub height. Default is None
icon Icon to display for this technology. Default is wind_g.png
o_m_cost Operations and Maintenance cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
offset_spacing Offset between adjacent rows in multiples of rotor diameter
row_spacing Distance between rows in multiples of rotor diameter
turbine_spacing Distance between turbines in multiples of rotor diameter
wind_farm_losses_percent SAM parameter. Expected losses in the wind farms electrical output as a percentage of the wind farm's total output. Use this factor to account for wiring, transformer, or other losses. Default is 2%. For Existing stations this factor is used to reduce the generation for de-rated turbines (station capacity divided by number of turbines).
[Other]
(experimental)
Specifics on another technology as defined by you (experimental). You can cater for different technologies by appending a suffix to Other, e.g. [Other1]. Refer to Other Models used by SIREN (experimental) for more details. Standard Properties are:
area Estimated area in km2 per MW
capital_cost Capital cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
formula Formula to calculate the power generated for each hour
icon Icon to display for this technology. Default is question.png
o_m_cost Operations and Maintenance cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
[Parents] Enables parent directories to be specified and substituted in the [Files] properties. The variables must be in lower case. They will also allow a single level of substitution of other parent variables, for example, $dir2=$dir1/.... It is suggested they have an unusual character, such as $, to avoid valid values being substituted

$samsdk Example: pointer to location of SAM SDK folders
[Plot Colors] Colours for Flexiplot and Powerplot. These may be populated from the other Colors Sections
[Power] What processing, output and charts to produce for power model processing. Properties are True or False. Power options can be changed and saved when the Power Models menu option is selected. Properties are:

adjust_cap Specify the maximum multiplier to adjust generation by. If a negative value is set the value will be set to 10**12. The default is 25.
actual If True, generation data will be derived from actual power data rather than calculated using a SAM model
augment Display charts of hourly results showing renewable generation with shortfalls filled by storage and augmented generation
block If True, charts will be displayed individually. Each chart will have to be closed before the next one will display
by_day Display charts of daily results, that is, a figure for each day
by_month Display charts of monthly results, that is, a figure for each month
by_period Display charts of period results. The periods are defined by the period<n> properties. These are typically two six month periods, however, you can define a different number of periods. As SAM data files cover a calendar year one period may include the first n month(s) and last m month(s) of the year. Each month covers the first to last day of the month.
by_season Display charts of seasonal results, that is, a figure for each season. The seasons are defined by the season<n> properties. These are typically the four three month seasons. You can define a different number of seasons. As SAM data files cover a calendar year the summer or winter figures will include the first n month(s) and last m month(s) of the year
by_station Display charts for individual stations
cumulative Include a cumulative curve for renewables
debug_sam If a SAM model is not producing what is expected this option will cause a list of SAM variables for a model execution to be displayed in the status window or command line window. The default value is False. It is recommended to leave it as False unless you need it for debugging purposes
duration Display load duration curves
financials Run SAM financial models on the power results produced
fossil_technologies The list of fossil technologies - fossil_coal fossil_cogen fossil_distillate fossil_gas fossil_mixed
grid_losses Reduce chart figures by the amount of grid losses
gross_load Create additional load curve which includes Rooftop PV. This increases load to simulate the hidden capacity/demand being met by Rooftop PV
hour Display charts of hourly results
load_growth Default annual load growth when looking into the future. Can be suffixed with % for readability, for example, 2%
maximise Maximise chart windows
month Display charts of the average 24 hour period for each month
orientation Orientation for charts. Set to landscape to produce landscape figures. Default is either portrait or automatic as determined by the plot routine. This is only utilised if the papersize options is specified
other_width Line width for non-technology chart items (Cumulative generation, Load and Shortfall). Default value is 2.0 (twice normal width)
papersize Specify the papersize for charts. This can be either a specific size, such as A4 or letter, or two numbers width,length where both figures are in inches. This option along with save_format allows charts to be saved in a specific size and format
period Display charts of the average 24 hour period for the periods defined by the period<n> properties.
period<n> The months covered by period n. The format is <period_name>,n1,n2,...n6 for month n1 through n6. For example, period2=Summer,11,12,1,2,3,4 names the second period Summer and covers November to December plus January to April
save_match Save inputs for Powermatch (or Powerbalance)
save_data Save initial data outputs produced by the model for each station
save_detail Save data outputs produced by the model for each station and other options. The data will be adjusted to reflect load growth as specified by Power Model options and adjusted generation
save_format Specify the file format to save charts as. This can be one of the values supported by the Python plot routine - eps, jpeg, jpeg, pdf, pgf (requires LaTex), png, ps, raw, rgba, svg, svgz, tif, or tiff. The default format is png
save_plot Save data values for charts
save_tech Save data outputs produced by the model for each technology and other options. The data will be adjusted to reflect load growth as specified by Power Model options and adjusted generation
save_view If True this property will allow you to save individual images of visualised generation. The default value is False
save_zone Save generation data by zone. If True and zones are defined this property will indicate to output generation by zone. The default value is False
season Display charts of the average 24 hour period for the seasons defined by the season<n> properties
season<n> The months covered by season n. The format is <season_name>,n1,n2,...n3 for month n1 through n3. For example, season1=Summer,12,1,2 names the first season Summer and covers December, January and February
shortfall Display shortfall of network load not met by renewable generation
shortfall_detail Display additional shortfall charts and data to assist detailed analysis of generation shortfall
shortfall_iterations Choose the number of iterations for the additional shortfall charts
show_load Show generation as a percentage of load on charts where possible
show_menu Present a menu to specify what processing and charts to produce. This option should also be set to True to enable choices on charts, tables and financial options
show_pct Display network load on charts
summary Present a table summarising power produced
technologies The list of technologies - biomass, dual_axis_pv (or tracking_pv), fixed_pv, geothermal, rooftop_pv, solar_thermal, wind
total Display charts of the average 24 hour period for the full year
visualise Visualise generation over the hours of the year or average monthly or annual diurnal periods
  Optimise (experimental)
optimise Specifies the optimisation approach. It can be either be based upon the average Daily generation and load for the chosen time period or the Hourly data. The default is Daily
optimise_load Remove the contribution to Load (i.e. generation) by a station or technology (multiplied by it's current multiplier) from the analysis. The default is False
[Powerplot] Options for Powerplot. Properties for individual files (e.g. columns; marked with an asterisk, *, below) can be repeated a number of times to allow a history of recent files to be accessed. These are suffixed with a number. Properties are as follows:

alpha Opacity of chart fill for values above target. Range is 1.0 (opaque) to 0.0 (translucent). Default value is 0.25
alpha_fill Opacity of chart fill (below target and for no target). Range is 1.0 (opaque) to 0.0 (translucent). Default value is 1.
alpha_word A list of categories separated by commas for a breakdown (TML) detail worksheet that should be removed when setting colours. Default value is surplus,charge
background_3d If set to True a pale grey background colour is display for axes in 3D Surface Charts. Default is False
cmap Identify the colour map (cmap) to be used to create Heat maps (refer to https://matplotlib.org/stable/gallery/color/colormap_reference.html). A common colour map is jet or jet_r. The default is a red-amber-green colour map
cbar Add a colorbar to a Heat map. This gives a scale to what the colours represent. The default is True. If the colorbar is displayed it is possible to display additional values to indicate the minimum and maximum value encountered by setting cbar2 to True.
cbar2 See cbar
columns (*) List (and order) for columns to be charted
constrained_layout Use a constrained layout. This minimises whitespace. The default is False.
contours_3d If set to True contour lines will be displayed on 3D Surface Charts. The default is False
cperiod (*) Chosen end period for diurnal chart
extra If set to True an additional button will be presented to allow some additional properties to be set. The default is False
file (*) Spreadsheet filename
file_choices How many files to keep in a recent history list. The default is 10
file_history The order of the recent history list
grid (*) The gridlines to be included on the chart. Options are Both, Horizontal, Vertical and None. The default is None
hatch_word A list of categories separated by commas for a breakdown (TML) detail worksheet that have pattern (hatch) applied when setting colours. Default value is charge
header_font Saved details on Header font properties
html_3d If set to True a HTML version of a 3D Surface Charts will be created. The file will be saved in the sane folder and name as the file being displayed with a file type of html. The default is False
label_font Saved details on font properties for Labels and chart “tick marks”
legend_font Saved details on Legend font properties
legend_ncol This property allows you to specify the number of legend columns for those Pie Charts with a legend. Default is 1
legend_on_pie If set to True labels for a Pie Chart will be placed on the chart, if False the legend will be presented as a table. If set to Pct (Percent) the legend will be persented as a table and pie percentages will be placed on the chart. The default is True
legend_side Indicate to adjust the chart area to place the legend. Values are None (the default), Left or Right
margin_of_error In doing a chart with a target column there may be very minor differences that could cause a Shortfall or Spill legend item to be created. This setting will allow these small differences to be ignored. The default value is .0001
maximum (*) Maximum value for Power (y) axis. Default is 0 (meaning dynamic y axis)
months_3d For 3D Surface Charts this value indicates the number of months to present a chart as either dailys or monthly. Values greater than this will present a monthly chart. The default value is 3
no_of_overlays Set a number of overlay fields. The default is one. If you set a higher number the overlay fields for the other fields will be suffixed with _<n>_
overlay (*) Include an overlay (either of storage recharge or underlying load) on the chart
overlay_color (*) Specify a colour for the overlay line. The default is Black
overlay_style (*) Define the style for the overlay line. The default is dotted
overlay_type (*) Define the values for the overlay line for a Step Day Chart. The default is Average
overlay_width (*) Define the width for the overlay line. The default is 1.5
palette Invoke the Colours editor to create a palette of colours for selected columns. Default is True
percentage (*) Produce a percentages chart
period (*) Chosen period for diurnal chart
plot (*) The type of chart. Options are Bar Chart, Cumulative, Heat Map, Line Chart, Pie Chart, Step Line Chart, Step Day Chart or 3D Surface Chart. The default is Cumulative
plot_palette A colour palette to be used for data series without a defined colour. Values can be random, 15 or 24. The default is random. 15 and 24 are colour palettes for colour blindness while random generates a random colour
plot_12 This property provides a capability to produce wide charts to enable 12 monthly charts to fit on a page (e.g. A4) in portrait format. The default is False
select_day If set to True, add menu options to produce a diurnal chart for a single day. Default is False
sheet (*) Worksheet name for chart
short_legend If a TML Detail file with Breakdowns is plotted it is possible to produce a shorter legend by setting this property to True. This shorter legend aids in readibility of the plot by shortening the length of the legend. The default is False
spill_label (*) Suffix for Legend entries for spilled energy. Default is no entry
suptitle (*) Chart header
target (*) Target column (e.g. Load) or none if no target
target_style (*) Define the style for the target line. The default is solid
target_width (*) Define the width for the target line. The default is 2.5
ticks_font Font properties for label tick marks
title (*) Chart title
title_font Saved details on Title font properties
y2_label (*) Label for a secondary Y axis
y2_inverse (*) Inverse formula for a secondary Y axis
y2_transform (*) Transform formula for a secondary Y axis
[Powermatch] Filenames, worksheet names and other variables used by Powermatch. Properties are:

adjust_generators Indicates whether to adjust generators capacity inputs or not. Default is False
adjusted_capacities Contains a list of adjusted capacities (in MW) for generators
adjusted_lcoe In producing the reports and optimisation use the adjusted (corrected) LCOE or not. The default is True
batch_file Filename for Powermatch Batch spreadsheet
batch_new_file Batch report file. If set to True a new report file will be produced for Batch. The default is to append a new worksheet to the input file. Default is False
batch_prefix If set to True Facility names in a Batch report will be prefixed with a unique identifier for each report group. Default is False
carbon_price Carbon price. Only use if carbon price not included in LCOE. Default is 0
carbon_price_max Maximum carbon price. Default is 200
change_results If True the name of the results file will be changed when the data file is changed. Default is True
constraints_file Filename for constraints spreadsheet
constraints_sheet Worksheet name for constraints table
data_file Filename for Powermatch input (data) spreadsheet
discount_rate The discount rate to be applied if LCOEs are being calculated using capital, operations and fuel costs rather than a Reference LCOE
dispatch_order To enable the dispatch order to be saved between executions
generators_file Filename for generators (facilities) spreadsheet
generators_sheet Worksheet name for generators (facilities) table
load Folder location and file name format for load files. The default value is that used by SIREN (load property of the [Files] Section)
load_year The last saved load year (or load file). Default is 'n/a'
log_status Override the [Windows] log_status property. If set to False the status messages will not be logged in the status window
more_details If set to True a number of additional tables and an additional chart will produced during Powermatch optimisation. Default is False
operational A list of generators, separated by commas, to be treated as part of Operational rather than Underlying generators. This list enables a generator normally considered as Underlying, such as Additional.Rooftop PV, to be treated as an Opertional generator. The default is none
optimisation_file Filename for optimisation spreadsheet
optimisation_sheet Worksheet name for optimisation table
optimise_choice The last saved optimisation choice. Possible values are: Both, LCOE (default), or Multi
(optimise_debug) If set to True this will produce a file to help analyse the Optimisation process. Default is False. Probably only of value to the developer
optimise_default If an Optimisation entry is missing for a facility this defines a default value for a new entry. The default is no (new) entry
optimise_generations Number of iterations (generations) for optimisation. The value can be between 10 and 500, with a default of 20
optimise_multiplot When running a multi optimisation you can choose to display a 3D plot of the best individuals from each iteration. Default is False (if set to trisurf the 3D plot will be a tri-surface plot; not very useful in this instance)
optimise_multitable When running a multi optimisation you can choose to display a table of the best individuals from each iteration. Default is False
optimise_mutation Mutation probability. Introducing a level of mutation prevents the population being restricted to the initial population set. The value can be between 0 and 1, with a default of 0.005
optimise_population Population size for optimisation. The value can be between 10 and 500, with a default of 50
optimise_stop Stop iterations for optimisation if the solution should remain the same. The value can be between 0 and 50, with a default of 0 (meaning there will be no check)
optimise_to_batch When running an optimisation you can choose to add the picked (capacity) results to the batch file. Default is True
optimise_total_re Include Storage in calculating RE%. The default is True
optimise_<details> These properties describe the optimisation weight and target range for each of the six variables used in the multi-variable optimisation approach
renewables_details Either show details for each renewable generator technology (True) or just show a summary (False). This displays a summary on how generator capacity was adjusted from the base data inputs. Default is True
remove_cost In producing the Summary table this option indicates to remove the costs for generators that were not used in the calculation; leading to a lower overall LCOE. The default is True
results_file Filename for Powermatch output (report) spreadsheet
results_prefix Prefix for results filename for Powermatch output files
save_tables If set to True generators and constraints will be saved to the Powermatch results spreadsheet. Default is False
shortfall_sign An indicator as to whether shortfall values should be negative or positive. Surplus values will have the opposite sign. The default is negative, -
show_contribution
If set to True, show the percentage contribution of chosen components in meeting the target, e.g. Load. The default is False Note: This Property is used by powerplot and not powermatch
show_correlation
If set to True, a linear correlation between Load and three components used to meet Load will be calculated. The default is False
show_multipliers If set to True, technology multipliers will be shown on the Adjustment window. The default is False
summary_sources If set to True the list of data sources will be added to the Summary report. The default is True
tml_detail_file The saved name of the TML detail file
tml_results_sheet The Detail worksheet used as input to TML Detail
transition_file Filename for Powermatch Transition spreadsheet
underlying A list of generators, separated by commas, to be treated as part of Underlying generators. The default is Rooftop PV
[PV] Specifics on PV characteristics. Properties are:

dc_ac_ratio DC to AC ratio. Default value is 1.1
icon Icon to display for this technology. Default is solar_pv_g.png
losses Percentage losses for SAM PV model (pvwattsv5). Default is 5. 5 is appropriate for solar weather files derived from the MERRA-2 swgnt variable while 14 or 15 is more appropriate for the swgdn variable
[Rooftop PV] Specifics on Rooftop PV characteristics. Properties are:

area Estimated area in km2 per MW. A value of 0 is acceptable
capital_cost Capital cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
dc_ac_ratio DC to AC ratio. Default value is as specified in the [PV] Section
icon Icon to display for this technology. Default is solar_pv_g.png
o_m_cost Operations and Maintenance cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
[SAM Modules] SAM models (modules) and default variables for each technology currently implemented. The variables files can be either a CSV or Excel (XLS or XLSX) file. Properties are as follows.

Note: SIREN is using SSC Version 206 which has created some changes to the default variables for ippppa, geothermal, tcsgeneric_solar and tcsmolten_salt. The variable files for these models provided by SIREN have a suffix of _206. You may need to adjust these variables in older SIREN Preferences files. SIREN has also successfuly been used with Version 209 (2018-11-11), Version 267 (2021-12-02), Version 278 (2022-11-21)

annualoutput_variables Default values required for the annual output module. This is the first of two models used to determine the financial aspects of the simulation. It calculates annual output for the analysis period
biomass_variables Default values required for the biomass module
cst_variables Default values required for the CST module
geothermal_variables Default values required for the geothermal module
ippppa_variables Default values required for the Utility IPP/Commercial PPA Finance module. This is the second of the financial models for the simulation
pv_variables Default values required for the five PV technologies (Fixed, Rooftop, Single Axis, Backtrack, and Dual Axis (Tracking))
solar_thermal_variables Default values required for the solar thermal module
helio_positions A heliostat positions table for the solar thermal module
optical table An optical table for the solar thermal module
wind_variables Default values required for the wind module
[Single Axis PV] Specifics on Single Axis PV characteristics. Properties are:

area Estimated area in km2 per MW
capital_cost Capital cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
dc_ac_ratio DC to AC ratio. Default value is as specified in the [PV] Section
icon Icon to display for this technology. Default is solar_pv_g.png
o_m_cost Operations and Maintenance cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
[Solar Thermal] Specifics on Solar Thermal characteristics. Properties are:

area Estimated area in km2 per MW
capital_cost Capital cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
gross_net Estimated gross to net power conversion factor
helio_positions Heliostat layout file. Provided by SIREN (from SAM modelling)
icon Icon to display for this technology. Default is solar_g.png
o_m_cost Operations and Maintenance cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
tshours Hours of storage. The default is 0
volume Storage volume in m3 per MW per hour of storage. Default is 12.9858
[Storage] Specifics on (generic) storage characteristics. Properties are:

discharge_eff Losses incurred in discharging storage. It is a percentage value, e.g. 0.05 means 5%
discharge_max The maximum amount of storage in MW(h) that can be added to address generation shortfall
recharge_eff Losses incurred in recharging storage. It is a percentage value, e.g. 0.05 means 5%
recharge_max The maximum amount of excess generation in MW(h) that can be added to storage
storage Specify how large the storage on the grid is; in GWh. This can be a single figure indicating the amount of storage or two figures separated by a comma where the second value specifies the initial storage value
[View] Default view options. Often these are True or False values that can be “toggled” in the model. Properties are:

area_opacity Opacity of grid Areas. A value between 0 (clear) and 1 (opaque). Default is 0.1
capacity Show station areas based upon capacity. The size of the circles is determined by the capacity of the station and the capacity_area value. The intent is to highlight generation based upon capacity. There is an additional option to display circles based upon generation. These circles can be displayed once the Power Model has been run. They are, again, based upon the capacity_area value reduced to provide circles of the same magnitude as the capacity circles. These circles can be toggled on or off. When both are off station areas will be displayed
capacity_area Size of Capacity circles in km2 per MW
capacity_fill For capacity circle either display just the boundary (False) or fill the whole area (True). It is also possible to display a partially opaque circle by specifying a value between 0 (clear) and 1 (opaque)
centre_on_click If True then centre on nearest station on left-click
coord_grid Define the coordinates grid to display. This can be either m for MERRA-2, e for ERA5, or lat,lon to specify a different grid scale. The default grid will adjust depending on the bounding coordinates of the map
crop_save If True then when saving a View the image will be cropped to the edge of the map. The default is True
existing_grid Display existing grid lines
fossil Show fossil generators
grid_areas Display grid areas if available. The default is True
grid_zones Display grid zones if available. The default is True
group_colours If set to True when you invoke the Edit Colours menu item colours will be grouped into a number of sections:- Fossil Technologies, Grid, Map, Plot, Resource, Technologies, and any others. The default is False
hide_map If set to True this will open SIREN in the normal manner but will display a blank map this allows the current View to be saved without the underlying map. Default value is False
leave_help_open If set to True this will open the help in your browser rather than within SIREN
line_width Width of grid lines on the map in pixels. A line width of zero indicates a cosmetic pen. This means that the pen width is always drawn one pixel wide, independent of the level of zoom. This is the default. A value > 0 will show lines at this width irrespective of the size of the map. A value < 1 and > 0 will be used to calculate the number of pixels by multiplying the width of the map image by this value. A useful value is 0.0016. For example a map image 12,000 pixels wide will have grid lines 19.2 pixels wide
new_grid Include grid lines for new power stations
progress_bar Display progress bar for power calculations; if numeric then only display the bar if there are at least this many stations. Default is True. If the progress bar is displayed you can press the Stop button to terminate processing (after processing for the current station is complete)
resource_max_steps Maximum number of colour steps for resource grids. Default value is 10
resource_opacity Opacity of Resource grid. A value between 0 (clear) and 1 (opaque). Default is 0.5
resource_period Initial resource period to be displayed when Resource grid displayed
resource_steps Number of colour steps for resource grids
resource_variable Initial resource variable to be displayed when Resource grid displayed
ruler Length of ruler in kilometres in format length or length, ticks where length specifies the total length of the ruler and ticks ticks indicates the length of tick marks along the ruler
scene_save If True then when saving a View the image will be the underlying map image; otherwise the image will be the (screen) view. The image resolution can be different in the two options, dependent upon screen resolution, image resolution, screen window size and how much of the map is being saved. The default is False
show_coord Display coordinates grid. The default is False
show_towns Display towns. Default is True
station_name Display station names. If False then only the nearest station name will be displayed
station_opacity Opacity of Station area. A value between 0 (clear) and 1 (opaque). The default is 1
station_shape The shape of the station areas. The default is circles; squares can be set by setting this option to square
txt_ratio This ratio allows you to adjust the size of text strings for town names, stations, ruler and legend items. A larger value makes for larger text. The default value is 0.1
zone_opacity Opacity of grid zones. A value between 0 (clear) and 1 (opaque). Default is 0
zoom_rate The zoom rate for the map view. Each zoom in or zoom out action will alter the displayed map by this amount. Values can be between .75 (75% or 133%) and 0.95 (95% or 105%). The default value is 0.8
[Wave]
(experimental)
Specifics on Wave characteristics (experimental). Properties are:
area Estimated area in km2 per MW
capital_cost Capital cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
efficiency Conversion efficiency. Can be suffixed with % for readability, for example, 40%
icon Icon to display for this technology. Default is wave_g.png
o_m_cost Operations and Maintenance cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
[Wind] Specifics on Wind and turbine spacing. Properties are:

area Multiplier to compute an area of area x number of turbines x rotor diameter2
capital_cost Capital cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
extrapolate The law (model) to extrapolate wind speed data. This can be either Hellmann or logarithmic. Default is logarithmic
hub_formula Provide a formula to calculate hub height for larger turbines to extrapolate wind speed data. Default is None
hub_spread Provide a spread of wind heights such that if an existing wind speed height is within this spread of the hub height the wind speed won't be extrapolated. SAM's windpower model requires the closest wind speed measurement height to be within 35 m of the hub height. Default is None
icon Icon to display for this technology. Default is wind_g.png
o_m_cost Operations and Maintenance cost per peak MW. A suffix of K indicates thousands and M millions
offset_spacing Offset between adjacent rows in multiples of rotor diameter
row_spacing Distance between rows in multiples of rotor diameter
turbine_spacing Distance between turbines in multiples of rotor diameter
wind_farm_losses_percent SAM parameter. Expected losses in the wind farms electrical output as a percentage of the wind farm's total output. Use this factor to account for wiring, transformer, or other losses. Default is 2%. For Existing stations this factor is used to reduce the generation for de-rated turbines (station capacity divided by number of turbines).
[Windows] Provides options to remember window layouts between sessions. If active these values are updated by SIREN when windows are closed. Windows will be restored as close as possible to their previous position. Properties are:

credits_pos Position of Credits window
credits_show If set to False the Credits window is not shown on startup
credits_size Size of Credits window
flexiplot_pos Position of Flexiplot main window
flexiplot_size Size of Flexiplot main window
legend_pos Position of floating Legend
legend_size Size of floating Legend
log_pos Position of floating status window
log_size Size of floating status window
log_status If set to False the status messages will not be logged in the status window
main_pos Position of main window
main_size Size of main window
main_view Dimensions of map in main window view. This allows the original window to be zoomed to the approximate position on windows close
menu_pos Position of floating menu window
menu_show Display floating menu on startup (True or False). If the floating menu is active when you exit SIREN this flag will indicate to re-show it the next time you run SIREN
menu_size Size of floating menu window
powermatch_pos Position of Powermatch main window
powermatch_size Size of Powermatch main window
restorewindows If True SIREN will remember window layouts between sessions. Default is False
resource_pos Position of Resource Overlay window
resource_size Size of Resource Overlay window

Using the Simulation

The SIREN simulation has two parts:

  1. Using Powermap to build scenarios for an energy mix and calculating the renewable energy produced. It allows you to “map” renewable energy generation. This is described in Powermap
  2. Using the Powermatch data produced by Powermap to complete a costed renewable energy scenario. It allows you to “match” renewable energy generation to demand. This is described in Powermatch

There are also a few other programs that augment the results and data produced by Powermap and Powermatch.

Powermap

Powermap allows you to build scenarios for the energy mix for your area of interest. It is based around the map of your chosen area and allows you to visualise the layout of the existing electricity network plus the additional stations you place on the map to build your scenario(s). The map initially shows the main skeleton of the existing electricity grid infrastructure and current generation stations.

To add a new station simply right-click on the map at the desired location and then update the details for the station (Name, Technology, Capacity and so forth) and press Save & Exit. You can also copy an existing station and other options as specified above.

As you build your scenario, the simulation adds additional infrastructure to connect the new generation plants to the grid. The colours for the majority of the items on the map are as you specify in the Preferences file. You navigate around the map using normal mouse movements to scroll, zoom, etc. and interact with it as described in Menus. Using the various menu options you can model your whole scenario, or by right-clicking you can deal with an individual station. There are a number of additional windows, such as menu options, that can be opened to assist with using Powermap (see Windows)

You can save multiple scenarios and add them and remove them as you wish. When you exit the simulation normally or Save scenarios (Ctrl+S) any modified scenarios will be saved. When you add new stations to your model they will be added as a new scenario which includes the date and time in its name, for example, Scenario_2015-06-09_1000. You can save all open scenarios as a single new scenario by using the Save As... option.

The strength of the simulation is in running the SAM Power Models (e.g. Ctrl+P). This will run the appropriate SAM model for each station you have chosen or for all renewable stations in your current simulation. SAM calculates a list of power outputs for each hour of the year (8,760 points). If the show_menu property is True you will be presented with a menu to specify what processing and charts to produce (see Power Model Options below). If you choose to run the Financial Models or Powermatch you will be presented with an additional menu of options.

Usage Notes:

Notes on Wind Stations

With increasing hub heights associated with larger turbines the SAM models are impacted by the lack of suitable wind speed data at greater heights. The MERRA-2 climate data has a maximum wind speed height of 50 metres which will cope with hub heights up to 85 metres (above that height the SAM windpower model will fail with an error - “... the closest wind speed measurement height (50 m) found is more than 35 m from the hub height specified”). To overcome the wind data limitation Powermap can extrapolate wind speeds to greater heights. To enable this you can use the hub_formula property of the [Wind] and [Offshore Wind] Sections of the Preferences file (behaviour can also be changed with the hub_spread property). This formula can be used to calculate a hub height (for rotor lengths greater than 85) and to extrapolate wind speed using either of two commonly used laws (models). The law to be used can be specified in the extrapolate property of the appropriate wind Section(s) and can be either logarithmic, the default, or Hellmann. This additional data will be added to the normal wind file and passed to the SAM windpower model. If you wish to use this you need update the windpower variables file to allow the default hub height (85 m) to be overridden.

From ‘Do we really need rotor equivalent wind speed?’ (Van Sark etal, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/we.2319#:~:text=For%20situations%20where%20the%20ratio,and%20the%20wind%20speed%20at) a possible formula for calculating hub height is - H = 0.789 D + 14.9 m. For the hub_formula property this can be set as:

hub_formula=int(floor((0.789 * rotor + 14.9) / 5) * 5)

Powermap will replace rotor with the rotor diameter for the station turbine and perform the calculation which will round the calculated hub height down to the nearest 5 metres. You can of course just set hub_formula=90 to set a fixed height

Discussions on the two wind profile laws can be found at Wind profile power law (aka Hellmann law) and Log wind profile (aka logarithmic law). The Hellmann law tends to give slightly higher wind speeds. ‘Methodologies Used in the Extrapolation of Wind Speed Data at Different Heights and Its Impact in the Wind Energy Resource Assessment in a Region’ (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221912731_Methodologies_Used_in_the_Extrapolation_of_Wind_Speed_Data_at_Different_Heights_and_Its_Impact_in_the_Wind_Energy_Resource_Assessment_in_a_Region) provides a fuller discussion on the topic.

The Powermap menus allow you to interact with the full simulation while right-clicking the mouse allows you to interact at the detail of an individual station. The majority of the menu options have a keyboard shortcut. The layout of the menus are set out below (Note: Sometimes the menu options will disappear from the menu bar. The easiest solution is to maximise the main window and then restore it to it's normal size)

Scenario Work with scenarios. It is possible to edit the scenarios outside of the simulation as they are simple CSV or Excel (XLS or XLSX) files. The type of file is indicated by the file type - .csv for a CSV file, or .xls or .xlsx for an Excel file. If the file type isn't specified any scenario will be saved in Excel (XLSX) format.

Open  Open (Ctrl+O) Open an existing scenario. This will open the selected scenario and replace all stations in the current session with those in the chosen scenario
Add  Add (Ctrl+A) Add all the stations from an existing scenario to the current session
Remove  Remove
          ...Scenario(s)		 Remove one of the open scenarios stations from the current model. The Existing scenario allows you to remove existing stations from your session
Edit Description  Edit Descr.
          ...Scenario(s)		 Edit the description for a scenario in the current model
Save  Save (Ctrl+S) Save any scenarios modified in the current model
Save + Desc  Save + Desc Save any scenarios modified in the current model and allow descriptions to be updated
Save as...  Save As... Save the current model as a new scenario
Exit  Exit (Ctrl+X) Save any modified scenarios and exit the simulation
Quit  Quit (Ctrl+Q) Quit the simulation without saving any changes
Quit  Add Existing If you have removed Existing Stations this option will allow you to add them back
Power Run SAM models for the current model or list details on new infrastructure in the model

Get Generation  Power for yyyy (Ctrl+P) Run SAM models for the base year for each station in the current model and display power curves for the full model
Power for year  Power for year
          ...years(s)		 Run the SAM Power Models for one of the years available
List Stations  List Stations (Ctrl+L) List stations in the current model. This will list either all renewable stations or, if 'Display fossil-fuelled stations' is set, all stations including fossil-fuelled stations. By right-clicking a column header you can sort by that column in ascending and then descending order. By left or right-clicking a station you can display the details for that station
List Grid  List Grid (Wires; Ctrl+W) List grid network lines in the current model. By right-clicking a column header you can sort by that column in ascending and then descending order. If [Grid] trace_existing is set existing grid lines will also be displayed
  Save Stations (as KML) Save the current stations as a KML file which can be displayed in Google Earth. Each stations will display as a small pin with a square or circle indicating the approximate area the station may occupy; hovering over a station will display it's name and capacity
  Save Grid (as KML) Save the current grid as a KML file which can be displayed in Google Earth
Show Load  Load for yyyy Display load curves for the base year. An options menu is displayed to enable you to choose which charts you want. The options are as described in Choose charts in Power Model Options.
Load for year  Load for year
          ...years(s)		 Display load curves for one of the years available ...
SAM Version  SAM Version Display the version of the SAM SDK used by this model ([Files] sam_sdk property). Details will be shown in the status line at the bottom of the main window
Exit Visualise loop  Exit Visualise This will allow you to exit visualisation of generation
View Modify the view of certain elements of the simulation. Those identified with a tick icon can be toggled on or off

Toggle Capacity  Show Capacity Circles (Ctrl+C) Display circles for the stations based upon Capacity (True) or station area (False)
Toggle Generation  Show Generation Circles (Ctrl+K) Display circles for the stations based upon Generation (True). This will only display circles for stations that have had the Power model run for them
Toggle Names  Show Station Names (Ctrl+N) Display all station names (True) or just the current one (False)
Toggle Fossil  Show Fossil-fuelled Stations (Ctrl+F) Display fossil-fuelled stations (True)
Scale Ruler  Show Scale Ruler (Ctrl+R) If True Display a Scale Ruler. If you want to move the ruler you need to toggle it off and then back on again
Legend  Show Legend If True Display a legend. The legend displays coloured circles for each technology on the map and squares indicating the total land area occupied by these technologies. The legend will be placed (top) right of the map
Show Towns  Show Towns Display Towns (True)
Show Existing Grid  Show Existing Grid (Ctrl+H) Display the existing grid network (True)
Show Existing Grid2  Show Existing Grid2 (Ctrl+2) Display the existing detailed grid network if one is available (this grid is not utilised by Powermap; True)
Show Grid Zones  Show Grid Zones Display grid zones if available
Show Station Connections  Show Station Connections Display transmission lines that connect stations into the grid
Clear Grid Trace  Clear Grid Trace Clear any grid trace
Show Grid Line  Show Grid Line (Ctrl+J) The option allows you to choose an existing grid line to trace it's path
Refresh Grid  Refresh Grid This is a temporary option to refresh the Grid if the grid tracing and shortest path algorithms misbehave
Show Coordinates Grid  Show Coordinates Grid Display a grid of latitude and longitude. The spacing of the grid is based upon the geographic size of the map.
Show Grid Areas  Show Grid Areas Display grid areas if available
Go to Station  Go to Station (Ctrl+G) Centre the view on a particular station selected from a list
Go to Town  Go to Town (Ctrl+T) Centre the view on a particular town selected from a list
Go to Location  Go to Location (Ctrl+D) Centre the view on a particular location
Go to Load Centre  Go to Load Centre (Ctrl+M) Centre the view on a Load Centre
Save View  Save View (Ctrl+V) Save the current view to an image file
Preferences Edit or display aspects of the Preferences file. Changes for some variables will take effect immediately on exit from the edit program while others (such as the map) will require you to restart the simulation

Edit Preferences  Edit Preferences File(Ctrl+E) Edit the Preferences file, either SIREN.ini or that file passed as a parameter when you invoked the simulation. This option invokes a simple text editor to allow the whole file to be edited
Edit Colours  Edit Colours (Ctrl+U) Edit colours for the current map. This will allow to change both the colours for the current map_choice (left column) and the default colours (right column). You can delete colours for the current map_choice by right-clicking on the colour (it will be cleared and the item deleted when you Save & Exit)
Edit File Section  Edit File Sections Edit Parents, Files and SAM Modules Sections of the Preferences file. These sections mainly have file and folder Properties. By clicking on a Property you can navigate to the desired file or folder.
Edit Section  Edit Section Edit a specific Section of the Preferences file. You will be presented with a list of Sections to choose the desired one. The edit program will then present a table of current Properties and their values. It is also possible to add values for Properties not currently present in that Section
Edit Technologies  Edit Technologies Edit standard Properties for all Technologies. This option allows you to edit the “standard” variables for all technologies (area, capital_cost and o_m_cost)
Dispatchable Lines  Dispatchable Lines Table This will list the dispatchable_lines table showing the range of dispatchable lines for each level of peak dispatchable capacity
Standard Lines  Standard Lines Table This will list the standard_lines table showing the range of standard lines for each level of peak capacity
Line Costs  Line Costs List the cost per km for each type of line
Substation Costs  Substation Costs List the substation cost for each type of line
Windows Display additional (floating) windows. These windows can be opened and still allow interaction with the main Powermap window. if restorewindows is set Powermap will remember the placement of windows and restore them as closely as possible to these positions when they are next opened.

Credits  Credits (F2) Display Credits window - brief details about SIREN, acknowledgements and licensing
View Resource  Show Resource Grid (Ctrl+B) Invoke Resource Grid window to display gridded resource data on the map
Resource for year  Resource for year
          ...years(s)		 Invoke Resource Grid window for one of the years available
View Legend  Show Floating Legend Invoke Floating Legend to display a legend in a floating window
View Menu  Show Floating Menu Invoke Floating menu window to display Powermap menu options
View Status  Show Status Window Invoke floating window to display a log of Powermap session activity and open scenarios
View Status  Show Data View
Invoke Data View window to display “gridded” contribution to generation on the map
Tools Invoke SIREN tools. This will launch the chosen tool as a new task

getera5  getera5 Invoke getera5 to download ERA5 data files (see Get ERA5 Files)
getmap  getmap Invoke getmap to create a map image for Powermap (see Obtaining a Suitable Map Image)
getmerra2  getmerra2 Invoke getmerra2 to download MERRA-2 data files (see Get MERRA-2 Files)
indexweather  indexweather Invoke indexweather to create an index for weather files (see Using other Weather Files)
makegrid  makegrid Invoke makegrid to create resource grid file (see Visualising Renewable Resource Attributes)
makeweatherfiles  makeweatherfiles Invoke makeweatherfiles to create weather files for SAM (see Produce wind and solar weather files)
powermatch  powermatch Invoke powermatch to match generation to demand (load) and to quantify and cost dispatchable energy generation, storage and CO2‑e emissions (see Powermatch)
powerplot  powerplot Invoke powerplot to create charts from Powermodel and Powermatch outputs (see Powerplot)
updateswis  updateswis Invoke updateswis to update the list of existing SWIS Stations (facilities; see Existing Stations (Facilities)) or SWIS Load data
Help Display some help about the program

Help  Help (F1) Display the help file. The default help file, help.html, is a standard HTML file which can be displayed with your browser
About  About (Ctrl+I) Display details about the simulation including any licensing conditions

Right Mouse Click

Clicking the right mouse button allows various actions for the nearest station. Dependent on the nearest station some options will not be available. The full list is as follows:

Run Power  Run SAM Model Run SAM Power Model for nearest station
Power for year  Model Power for year
          ...years(s)		 Run the SAM Power Model for nearest station for one of the years available
Copy Station  Copy station Copy nearest station. After selecting this option and updating any changed details move the mouse to the new location and press the left mouse button to locate the new station
Centre on Station  Centre view Centre view on nearest station
Station Info  Show/Edit details Show details for nearest station. If it is a new (i.e. not an existing) station you can also edit the stations details
Move Station  Move Move nearest station. After selecting this option move the mouse to the new location and press the left mouse button to relocate the station
Delete Station  Delete Delete nearest station
Edit Grid  Edit grid line for station Edit Grid line for station at (this) location. This option allows you to override the default process of connecting the grid line to the nearest existing grid line. By clicking the left mouse button you can indicate where you want the grid line to be positioned; each click adds a new leg to the grid line; double-clicking terminates the edit and connects the grid to the (now) nearest grid line
Trace Grid  Trace grid for station Trace Grid for station at (this) location. This option will trace the grid connection between the station and the (nearest) load centre
Add Station  Add station Add station at (this) location
Trace Grid  Show details for nearest grid line The nearest grid line will be highlighted and some details displayed in the Status line. Details will include the line name, length, an indication if it carries Dispatchable generation, and the peak load on the line
Show Zone  Show Zone for here Display the zone for the chosen location
Weather  Show weather for here Present a menu to allow you to chart weather values (DHI, DNI, GHI, temperature, wind speed) for this location. You select the weather values you want to display and one of a series of charts to display either by hour or the average for a period. There is also an option to display chosen charts one at a time or all together, that is, display them all and allow you to navigate between them
Weather for year  Weather for year
          ...years(s)		 Show weather here for one of the years available
Town Info  Show details Show details for nearest town
Scale Ruler  Position ruler here Position ruler here. Position will be approximate
Legend  Position legend here Position legend here. Position will be approximate

Power Model Options

The Power Model options menu are as set out here. The default values are specified in the [Power] Section of the Preferences file. The associated property is indicated in brackets at the end of the description. If you hover over the window title bar or press F1 a help for the Options will be displayed.

Check / Uncheck all A button to check or uncheck all option buttons
Show in Plot Choose what to show in the charts
Generation - use actual generation figures Use actual generation figures rather than invoking a SAM module. For example, you may have actual generation (e.g. SCADA) data that you wish to use rather than using a SAM model (actual)
Generation - total (cumulative renewables) Include a cumulative curve for renewables (cumulative)
Generation - from chosen stations Display charts for individual stations. An option to to select any number of individual stations to process. This will cause an additional menu to be presented after you press the Proceed button (by_station)
Generation - adjust generation This option allows you to adjust the generation figures for either technologies or specific stations by a defined multiplier of between 0 and the defined adjustment cap. The cap is set by the adjust_cap property in the [Power] Section of the Preferences file; the default is 25 times. The option multiplies the figures calculated by SAM to enable analysis of changes to the technology mix to the overall simulation result without having to modify individual station(s). See Adjust Generation (below) for further details (adjust)
Generation - show Load Display network load on charts (show_load)
Generation - show shortfall from Load Display shortfall of network load not met by renewable generation (shortfall)
Generation - reduce generation by grid losses Reduce calculated generation by the amount of grid losses (substation and transmission losses) (grid_losses)
Add Existing Rooftop PV to Load (Gross Load) Create additional load curve which includes Rooftop PV. This increases the Load curve by the amount of Rooftop PV in an attempt to simulate it's contribution to load reduction (gross_load)
Growth options Options to set an annual load (demand) growth target and project a number of years into the future. This takes the existing load and increases it by the specified percentage for the number of years into the future. If you specify zero growth and a (future) year which has a load file the program will use that load file
Storage Options related to (generic) storage within the network
Storage Capacity Options to specify how much storage is in the network, in GWh, and the initial capacity. Generation over Load will be added to storage up to this figure while generation shortfall will be met from storage until it is exhausted
Discharge cap Options to specify the maximum amount of storage in MW(h) that can be added to address generation shortfall and the losses incurred in using this storage
Recharge cap Options to specify the maximum amount of excess generation in MW(h) that can be added to storage and the losses incurred in adding this to storage
Choose charts Choose what charts to show. All charts are based upon the full year of data. Energy by options produce a step chart of generation for the chosen time frame; Power - daily average options produce a line graph of the average 24 hour period for the chosen time frame.
Save chart data This option will enable the data values for most of the charts to be saved to a spreadsheet (save_chart)
Visualise generation - period & delay (secs) This option will visualise generation by displaying variable generation circles for each station over the chosen periods (visualise)
Show generation as a percentage of load Where possible display (renewable) percentage of load within the chart title (show_pct)
Maximise Plot windows Plots will display at maximum window size (maximise)
Show charts one at a time If checked chosen charts will be displayed one at a time, otherwise where possible they will be displayed all together, that is, display them all and allow you to navigate between them (block)
Energy by day Display charts of daily results, that is, a figure for each day (by_day)
Energy by month Display charts of monthly results, that is, a figure for each month (by_month)
Energy by season Display charts of seasonal results, that is, a figure for each season (by_season)
Energy by period Display charts of 6 month seasonal results. It is possible to specify any number of months (by_period)
Power by hour Display charts of hourly results (hour)
Power - diurnal profile Display charts of average 24 hour period for the full year (total)
Power - diurnal profile by month Display charts of average 24 hour period for each month (month)
Power - diurnal profile by season Display charts of average 24 hour period for each season (season)
Power - diurnal profile by period Display charts of average 24 hour period for the two periods (period)
Power - Load duration Display load duration curves (duration)
Power by hour - augmented Display charts of hourly results showing renewable generation with shortfalls filled by storage and augmented generation (augment)
Power - Shortfall analysis Display additional shortfall charts and data to assist detailed analysis of generation shortfall. If this option is chosen with 0 analysis iterations it will display a table of shortfall and excess generation and, if storage is chosen, storage usage and balance (shortfall_detail)
Choose tables Choose what tables to present
Show Summary/Other Tables Present a brief summary table of Capacity and Output for each selected station (summary) plus other tables dependent on options chosen
Generation by Zone If a zones file is defined choosing this option will cause generation figures to be calculated by zone (save_zone)
Save Hourly Data Output Save the hourly data for each renewable station. This is the hourly output calculated by the SAM model (save_data)
Save (adjusted) Hourly Data Output by Station Save adjusted data outputs produced by the model for each station and other options (save_detail)
Save Hourly Data Output by Technology Save adjusted data outputs produced by the model for each technology and other options (save_tech)
Save Powermatch Inputs Save the input data for Powermatch (or Powerbalance). If you check this option it will check two options that are required for Powermatch (‘Generation - show Load’ and ‘Generation - reduce generation by grid losses’). (save_match)
Run Financial Models Run SAM financial models on the power results for each station and produces a summary table showing additional financial outputs (financials)
Proceed, Save Options /
Do Financials		 At the bottom of the menu is the Proceed button. If the button is not visible use the scroll bar to navigate down the table. You can invoke the menu multiple times to specify different growth options, storage options and plots. The first display of the menu gives the option to Save the options for future sessions; this writes the updated options to the Preferences file. To exit this phase of processing press the All Done or Do Financials button

The charts and tables are intended to assist with analysing the chosen scenario.

Charts

Refer to Other Charts for details about Plot Navigation.

Tables

Financial Model Options

Note: Implementation of the SAM Financial models in SIREN is a work in progress. If you have suggestions on how you would like SIREN to be extended in this area contact siren@sen.asn.au.

If you have chosen to run the Financial models you will be presented with an additional options menu as set out here. The default values are specified in the [Financial] Section of the Preferences file. The associated property is indicated in brackets at the end of the description. If you hover over the window title bar or press F1 a help for the Options will be displayed.

Analysis period (years) (analysis_period)
Federal tax rate (%) (federal_tax_rate)
Real discount rate (%) (real_discount_rate)
Inflation rate (%) (inflation_rate)
Insurance rate (%) (insurance_rate)
Loan term (years) (loan_term)
Loan rate (%) (loan_rate)
Debt percentage (%) (debt_fraction)
Federal depreciation type 2=straight line (depr_fed_type)
Depreciation straight-line term (years) Federal depreciation straight-line term in years (depr_fed_sl_years)
Salvage value percentage (%) (salvage_percentage)
Minimum required DSCR (ratio) (min_dscr_target)
Minimum required IRR (%) (min_irr_target)
Commercial PPA (on), Utility IPP (off) IPP option - Utility IPP or Commercial PPA (market)
Minimum DSCR required? (min_dscr_required)
Positive cash flow required? (positive_cashflow_required)
Optimise LCOE with respect to debt percent? (optimize_lcoe_wrt_debt_fraction)
Reduce power by Grid losses? Reduce the power passed to the financial model by the amount of grid losses. This will slightly increase LCOE. If chosen this will reduce power by losses related to the line connecting the station into the grid. To reduce power by losses for the full grid path length to the load centre you need to also choose the Include full grid path ... option (below)
Include Grid costs in LCOE? Increase station costs by the line costs to connect the station to the grid. This only includes the cost of the line to connect the station into the main grid and for the capacity of the station
Include full grid path in LCOE? Increase station costs by the line costs to connect the station to the grid. This includes the cost of the line to connect the station to the load centre for the capacity of the station. This option may over-inflate grid costs as each station path to the load centre is traced individually
Proceed, Save Options, All Done At the bottom of the menu is the Proceed button. If the button is not visible use the scroll bar to navigate down the table. You can also Save the options for future sessions; this writes the updated options to the Preferences file. The model will allow multiple iterations of the financial models. Use the All Done button to exit financial model processing

Notes on the Financial Model Table

Resource Grids

To assist with placement of renewable energy stations Powermap can display a grid of renewable resource attributes derived from the SAM weather files. The grid can be displayed by invoking the Show Resource Grid (Ctrl+B) menu option. The Resource Overlay menu presented has the following fields:

Weather Detail If appropriate resource files are found you'll be presented with this menu option. Possible choices are:- Daily By Month (default), Hourly By Month, or Hourly By Day
Weather Period This row provides pull-down menus to allow you to choose a period, day and hour to display
< > < will step back one period while > steps forward one period. You can also use Page Down and Page Up to step forward and back through the weather periods
Period Loop (secs) You can also cause the visualisation to automatically loop through all time periods. The number field allows you to specify the delay in seconds between each period - between 0 and 10 in .2 second increments. You press the Loop button to start the loop. Press Stop (or the Window -> Exit Visualise, Ctrl+Z, menu option) to stop the loop
Weather Variable This pull-down menu allows you to select the desired variable to display
Colour Steps The grid displayed can have values grouped in to up to 10 steps. A value of 0 will give a smooth graduation rather than stepped colours
Opacity Gives the degree of opacity of grid colours. A value of 1 is completely opaque while a value of 0 is completely transparent
Grid only If this item is checked just the grid cell borders will be displayed
Low Colour and High Colour These options present a set of buttons for each weather variable. Pressing the appropriate button will allow you to alter the upper or lower colour value for each variable. The range of colours steps will be displayed beside the buttons
Quit, Show, Hide, Save, Help As well as the <, > and Loop buttons there are a number of buttons at the bottom of the menu, as described below

Altering any field will cause the revised grid to be overlaid on the Powermap map. The buttons are:

This feature utilises summary data stored in a file rather than having to process hourly data from the weather files (see Visualising Renewable Resource Attributes).

Data View

This experimental feature overlays a set of pie charts or bar charts on the Powermap map, either at individual station locations or based upon the grid of “weather” cells. It can be used to visualise the contribution to overall generation from a group of stations. This could assist with identifying optimal placement of stations. For example, identifying potential Renewable Energy Zones could be assisted by running SAM models for identically sized stations placed within each of the cells. When the program is invoked it will display Powermap's coordinates grid. By default the grid is based on geographic coordinates but can be set to show the weather cells by setting the coord_grid property of the [View] Section of the Preferences file to either e for ERA5-derived weather data or m for MERRA-2 derived weather data. The program can accept data in two formats:

  1. A table of latitudes and longitudes containing the generation in each location for a number of RE technologies, or
  2. The summary table from a Powermodel execution from Powermap which contains a list of stations, their technology and generation. This format requires the stations in the list to be present in the Scenarios loaded into Powermap

The program analyses the generation figures for each or all technologies and ovelays charts that show the relative generation for each station or weather cell compared to the maximum generation figure. In Bar Charts the bars are relative to the maximum generation for any technology while percentages are either relative to the total for the cell or for each technology. In Pie Charts the pie slices indicate the contribution of each technology and the total pie slices and percentages are relative to the maximum generation. The base size (scale) of the charts are the same size as the weather cells.

The Data View options (Properties) are specified in the [Dataview] Section of the Preferences file. The associated property is indicated in brackets at the end of the description. The Data View menu displayed by invoking the Show Data View menu option. The menu presented has the following fields:

Recent Files A pull-down list of recent spreadsheets. Click on the desired spreadsheet to choose a different one from the list. The list will be ordered in terms of most recently accessed first (file_history)
Data File Click on this field to choose the desired spreadsheet (file)
Sheet and
  exclude cells		 A pull-down list to enable you to choose the desired worksheet (sheet). The second field allows you to choose another sheet in the same spreadsheet which can contain a list of cells to be excluded
Data Choices This will provide a set of checkboxes for the technologies available in the spreadsheet to allow you to choose which ones to display
Type of Chart
  Vertical Bar Chart
  Centre in cell		 The type of chart to be produced. Options are Bar Chart and Pie Chart (plot)
Check this to produce a vertical Bar Chart. The default is horizontal ()
Check this to centre the chart in the cell. Uncheck it to place the chart in the top left of the cell (plot_rotate)
Opacity
  Scale of chart in cell		 Gives the degree of opacity of grid colours. A value of 1 is completely opaque while a value of 0 is completely transparent (plot_opacity)
Scale of the chart in the cell. A value of 1 fills the cell(plot_scale)
Show pct. values
  Show and Each
  Dynamic scale		 Two checkboxes to indicate to display percentage values (Show; number_show) and display values for each technology for Bar Charts (Each; number_multiple). The Pct. colour allows you to set the colour for the percentage labels (number_colour)
Checking the Dynamic scale checkbox causes the size of Pct. labels to be adjusted according to the range of generation values (number_dynamic)
Show pct. >= Only show data cells for those cells with percentages above this value (number_min)
Centre on grid The location of charts will centre on the geographic location of the stations. By checking this option the charts will centre on the centre of MERRA-2 “weather” cells and will aggregate the figures for each station within the cell (grid_centre)
Done, Show, Hide, Help There are a number of buttons at the bottom of the menu, described below:

Performance and Execution Tricks

Processing a simulation with a large number of stations can take a while to process, especially with Solar Thermal stations. You can minimise this processing by using either of these two options:

  1. When you invoke Power Model processing it allows you to process Chart (and Table) options multiple times without reprocessing the stations. You can then process Financial options multiple times. The process Powermap uses is as follows:
    1. Displays the Power Model menu allowing you to specify initial options. This allows you to choose the stations of interest and the data options you want. This first display of the menu also allows you to save these options
    2. Calls the appropriate SAM module for each chosen station, or other options as specified
    3. Presents the tables and charts you have selected
    4. Re-displays the Power Model menu allowing you to specify different growth options, storage options and charts. A number of options, such as Generation - from chosen stations will no longer be available as they would require reprocessing the SAM models. To process these new options press the Proceed button. To exit this phase of processing press the All Done or Do Financials button
    5. If you have chosen to run the Financial Models the Financial Model menu will be displayed, allowing you to specify initial finance options. Press the Proceed button to continue with these options
    6. Calls the SAM financial module for each chosen station
    7. Presents the financial table
    8. Re displays the Financial Model menu allowing you to specify different options. Press the Proceed button to invoke these new options. To exit this phase of processing press the All Done button

  2. If the location and size of stations haven't changed you can avoid reprocessing stations by used Power data from a previous simulation run, using the following approach.
    1. Choose the Save Hourly Data Output (save_data) Power Model option
    2. Save the data file. This file contains power output for all stations in the current simulation. It should be located in the same folder as your scenario files (scenarios property of the [Files] Section). The data is saved as MWh with 4 decimal places because SAM uses kWh
    3. With your spreadsheet application (Excel) update the scenarios and stations that you want to use the saved data with. Either add or use the column headed Power File to specify the filename you've selected for the power output. For each station enter the full name and extension of the file, for example, Power_Table_Saved.xlsx
    4. When you next run the simulation it will load this saved data rather than invoking the SAM module for each station that has an Power File entry
    5. If the file is not found the SAM module will be re-invoked. So you can simply delete or rename the Power data file and re-run the simulation to get a new set of data points

Adjust Generation

The Generation - adjust generation option allows you to easily adjust the contribution of each technology to the overall model by allowing you to apply a multiplier to the generation figures. The multiplier multiplies each hourly generation figure to approximate increasing the station by this size. This enables you to assess changes to the technology mix without having to alter individual stations. If you also choose the Generation - from chosen stations option you can also do this adjustment for each station rather than each technology. This approach allows you to “experiment” with the generation mix without having to add or alter stations.

Note: that the multiplied figures are not passed to the Financial model(s).

Augmented (non-renewable) Generation

You can roughly estimate how much augmented (non-renewable) generation is required to meet the Load by selecting some appropriate Power Model options. This approach will indicate how much hourly demand can be met by generation, with or without storage, in the same hour, and how much excess renewable generation is spilled. If you choose the Save chart data and Power by hour - augmented option three tables will be produced. The first is actual data as in the graph, the second will adjust values to indicate the amount of generation from each component, and the third is a summary of the totals for the second table. This final table summarises how much demand is met by renewables and storage, how much has to be met from other sources (Augment) and how much renewable generation is spilled (that is, not used to meet demand or add to storage). This gives a slightly more accurate figure on how well your scenario meets hourly Load.

Saving the Current View

It is possible to save the current view of the main Powermap window using the Save View (Ctrl+V) option. Depending on the options chosen you can choose to crop the view at the map boundary (crop_save=True) or to save the full view, and to save either the underlying map (scene_save=True) or the screen view. The image resolution can be different in the two options, dependent upon screen resolution, image resolution, screen window size and how much of the map is being saved.

Optimise (experimental)

Powermap also has an experimental approach to optimise the mix of technologies. If Load data is available the menu presented to adjust generation will have an option to “optimise” the renewable energy mix to best meet the Load. You will be presented with an Optimise for: pull-down list of periods to optimise for. You choose the desired period and then press the Optimise button. This will then do a least squares solution for adjustment multipliers to produce a generation profile that best matches the total load and load profile for that period. The data analysis is performed on either the average 24 hour period or detailed hourly figures for the chosen period (optimise property of the [Power] Section). If you don't wish to include a technology or station then uncheck the checkbox (to the right of the multiplier) for that technology or station. The generation produced by that technology or station will be removed from the optimisation. Depending on the optimise_load property of the [Power] Section you can also remove the Load (multiplied by it's current multiplier) from the analysis. Any computed negative multiplier will be set to zero, which is likely to result in the computed generation exceeding the load. The Check / Uncheck all zeroes check box enables you to include or exclude all zeroed stations from any further optimisation. The analysis is based upon the stations in your scenario and doesn't take into account how well placed they are within the network. If you want to reset all multipliers just Optimise for None.

Powermatch

Running the SIREN models will produce hourly generation figures which identify generation shortfalls and excesses against load (demand). One of the outputs from Powermap is a table of these generation shortfalls which could be met by storage (charged by surplus renewable generation) and dispatchable energy generation. The Powermatch (powermatch) component of SIREN can be used to match generation with demand (load) to quantify and cost this dispatchable energy generation, storage and CO2-e emissions. This enables you to complete a costed renewable energy scenario. If the input data spreadsheet has zones (of generation) the calculations will be performed for each zone.

A Note on Load. Load is a measure of demand on the electicity network. It can be grouped into two broad areas:

One of the outputs from Powermatch is calculated Levelised Cost figures for each Generator, LCOG, and Storage, LCOS, and an overall LCOE. The Levelised Costs are calculated based upon either Capital (Capex), Operations (Opex) and fuel costs or a Reference LCOE and Reference Capacity Factor (CF) for the generator or storage. Be aware that if a facility is not used it will have no costs associated with it (this is based upon the premise that the facility would not be included in any detailed modelling). Powermatch has three interpretations of levelised cost:

  1. LCOG and LCOS. This is the average cost of all generation (or, in the case of storage, discharge) produced by a facility
  2. LCOE. The average cost of electricity. This is generally higher as it excludes surplus - spilled or curtailed - generation from renewable technologies not used “to meet load”. This is the default, and recommended, figure for levelised cost (excluding carbon cost; adjusted_lcoe). You can choose to ignore this in calculating the LCOE. For non-renewable technologies this is the same as LCOG
  3. LCOE with CO2 Cost. The average cost of electricity (LCOE) including carbon cost

Note: The SIREN Powermatch component was in part inspired by the Powerbalance worksheets developed by Ben Rose. For those who would prefer his spreadsheet approach an enhanced version, Powerbalance2, is available at https://cleanenergymodelling.com.au/powerbalance2/

Powermatch Inputs

Powermatch has a number of input files which are generally in the form of a simple table stored in either a CSV or Excel (XLS or XLSX) file. Constraints, Generators and Optimisation tables can be stored as separate worksheets in the same Excel file (workbook). Further details on some of the file formats can be found below. The input files are:

Constraints A table of constraints on the performance of a generator, for example, the maximum discharge rate for a battery or the minimum capacity for a generator once it is turned on (lower operating limit). The columns in the table are described below. Each row contains details for a constraint
Generators A table of generators and storage facilities providing details on costs, emissions, operating lifetime, and a pointer to the constraints on the facility. The columns in the table are described below. Each row contains details for a given facility (type), including the constraint for the facility as defined in the Constraints table
Optimisation A table of optimisation inputs providing capacity ranges for each facility. The columns in the table are described below. Each row contains details for a Generator
Data The input data of hourly load, capacities and hourly generation produced by the Powermodel component of Powermap. This is used with a dispatch order and the generators and constraints tables to calculate how hourly load can be met. This is in XLSX format
Batch The first worksheet in the file gives a table of input capacities and report options as described above. The first column contains a list of Generators followed by the desired report details. Each subsequent column contains the details for a model. Each row contains capacity details for a Generator. The table can also have up to five “header” rows which will be copied to the output report worksheet
Dispatch Order The order in which the dispatchable technologies will be processed by Powermatch. This is not a file, but one of the inputs in the Powermatch main menu

The Constraints, Generators and Optimisation tables can be edited, updated and saved and the revised table(s) used as inputs for the Summary, Powermatch, Batch and Optimise options. During the edit process the revised values can be exported as a new spreadsheet. If the table(s) is saved but not exported the revised values will not be available once Powermatch is exited. You can also choose another sheet, however, if the sheet you choose is not the correct format you may get unusual behaviour.

Generators

To address the shortfall in generation encountered by a renewable scenario other dispatchable generation and storage facilities can be used. These are defined in a Generators table. The Generators table is also used to define the Reference LCOE and LCOE CF figures for Renewable technologies. The dispatchable facilities are dispatched after renewable generators. The fields are:

Name (*)Name of the Facility
Capacity (*)The capacity for the facility in MW for generators and MWh, that is total energy content, for storage
Capex (or Capital) (c)The capital cost of the facility per MW for generators and MWh for storage
Constraint (*)Name of the Constraint that applies to this facility
Discount Rate (c)The discount rate to be applied if LCOEs are being calculated using capital, operations and fuel costs rather than a Reference LCOE. If not specified the default Discount Rate will be used
Emissions (*)Specifies the carbon dioxide equivalent emissions in tonnes per unit of electricity (t CO2-e / MWh)
Fixed OM (or FOM) (c)Fixed Operations and Maintenance costs per MW
Fuel (c)Fuel costs per MWh. A cost per gigajoule can be calculated by multiplying the fuel cost by 3.6 and dividing by the generator efficiency
Initial (*)For storage this species the initial level of storage as a percentage of total capacity
LCOE (l)The Reference LCOE for the facility
LCOE CF (l)The Reference capacity factor (CF) at which the Reference LCOE was determined. A combination of LCOE and LCOE CF allows the cost of the generation or storage to be determined. In undertaking any calculations Powermatch adjusts the resulting LCOE to reflect the difference between this CF and the calculated CF. If the Reference CF is zero the resulting LCOE will be used (that is, resulting LCOE will be the same as reference LCOE)
Lifetime (c)The estimated lifetime of the facility in years. If a value of 0 is specified it will be set to 20
(Dispatch) Order (*)Specifies the order in which the dispatchable facilities are used, with a value of 1 being the first in the order. Zero values are placed after those with a positive number
Variable OM (or VOM) (c)Variable Operations and Maintenance costs per MW/h

Powermatch will calculate costs in either of two ways, either by using a Reference LCOE and CF ((l) fields) or by using input costs ((c) fields) . If Capex is present it will use input costs otherwise it will use Reference LCOE. The option is chosen for each facility(*) fields are required for either method.

Constraints

Utilisation of each dispatchable generator and storage facility can be constrained by Powermatch in a number of ways. All figures, other than times (... Start and ... Time), are expressed as a percentage. In the tables the values will be displayed as a decimal fraction (0.00 to 1.00). All figures are hourly except for Parasitic Loss which is daily. The approach Powermatch uses is rather simplistic in that any losses need to cater for any loss of efficiency in storing energy or retrieving energy. The constraints are:

NameName of the Constraint
ConstraintName of the Constraint (same as Name)
CategoryThe category of the constraint. Values are either Storage or Generator
Capacity MaxFor a Generator the maximum rate the plant can run at. For Storage the maximum amount of storage that can be used
Capacity MinFor a Generator the minimum rate (other than zero) the plant can run at; which may cause spilled generation to occur. Also known as Lower Operating Limit (LOL) - the minimum amount of power a plant can generate once it is turned on. For Storage the facility should not be drained below this value
Discharge LossLosses when storage is used (discharged). If you have a storage technology with a round trip efficiency value you should specify the full loss in the Recharge Loss constraint.
Discharge StartFor Storage, if specified, the hour at which storage usage can commence
Min Run TimeFor Storage some technologies may be better deployed if they can run for a number of hours. To simulate this Powermatch will not use the technology unless there are projected shortfalls for at least the desired number of hours
Parasitic LossesStorage may lose capacity over time (e.g. batteries discharging, water evaporating). This constraint enables those losses to be catered for
Rampdown MaxThe maximum rate that a generator can be ramped down (not fully implemented)
Rampup MaxThe maximum rate that a generator can be ramped up (not fully implemented)
Recharge LossLosses when storage is increased (recharged). If you have a storage technology with a round trip efficiency value you should specify the full loss in this constraint (e.g. for a round trip efficiency of 30% you would set Recharge Loss to 70%).
Recharge MaxFor Storage the maximum rate at which the storage can be increased
Recharge StartFor Storage, if specified, the hour at which storage recharge can commence
Warmup TimeFor Storage some technologies may require a warmup period before they become operational. You can set a time period for this to occur, either in minutes or part of an hour (if an Initial value is set for the Storage it is assumed the warmup period has occurred prior to the first hour of the year). Also known as Ramp time (The amount of time it takes from the moment a generator is turned on to the moment it can start providing energy to the grid at its lower operating limit)

Powermatch Execution

The Powermatch options are as set out here. The options (Properties) are specified in the [Powermatch] Section of the Preferences file. The associated property is indicated in brackets at the end of the description. All files are located in the SIREN Scenarios folder.

Constraints File Filename for constraints spreadsheet. Clicking on the field will allow you to choose another spreadsheet from the SIREN Scenarios folder (constraints_file)
Constraints Sheet  Constraints Worksheet name for constraints table (constraints_sheet). Click on the Constraints button to display the Constraints table. Values can be changed and the table Saved or Exported as a new file
Generators file Filename for generators (facilities; includes generators and storage) spreadsheet. Clicking on the field will allow you to choose another spreadsheet (generators_file)
Generators Sheet  Generators Worksheet name for generators (facilities) table (generators_sheet). Click on the Generators button to display the Generators (facilities) table. Values can be changed and the table Saved or Exported as a new file
Optimisation File Filename for optimisation spreadsheet. Clicking on the field will allow you to choose another spreadsheet from the SIREN Scenarios folder (optimisation_file)
Optimisation Sheet  Optimisation Worksheet name for optimisation table (optimisation_sheet). Click on the Optimisation button to display the Optimisation table. Values can be changed and the table Saved or Exported as a new file
Data File Filename for Powermatch input (data) spreadsheet. Clicking on the field will allow you to choose another spreadsheet (data_file)
Load Year If available, you can choose a load file for a different year ([Files].load)
Results Prefix If set this value will be prefixed to the Results filename and to Summary and Adjust Generators filename if these are saved
Results File Filename for Powermatch output (report) spreadsheet. Clicking on the field will allow you to choose the name for the report spreadsheet. Note: If the change_results property of the [Powermatch] Section is set changes to the input spreadsheet name will cause this Results spreadsheet name to change (results_file)
Batch File Filename for Batch option. Clicking on the field will allow you to choose another spreadsheet from the SIREN Scenarios folder (batch_file)
Transition File Filename for Transition option. Clicking on the field will allow you to choose another spreadsheet from the SIREN Scenarios folder (transition_file)
Replace Last By checking this option when running a Batch report you can choose to replace the latest Results and Charts worksheets or an existing batch report workbook
Prefix facility names in Batch report By checking this option when running a Batch report Facility names will be prefixed with a unique identifier for each report group
Discount Rate The default discount rate to be used if costs rather than a Reference LCOE are being used to calculate generation costs. Note: It is not uncommon to use WACC as a discount rate (discount_rate)
Carbon Price If a carbon price is not included in LCOE figures you can use this option to set a carbon price between $0 and the maximum carbon price (carbon_price_max) (carbon_price)
Adjust Generators If this option is checked you will be presented with a table to enable you to adjust the input capacity data for each generator technology. You can specify the required capacity or, if the show_multipliers property is set, a multiplier between 0 and the cap set by the adjust_cap property in the [Power] Section of the Preferences file; the default multiplier is 25. The original input values will be derived from the data sheet for renewables and the Generators table for dispatchable technologies. If you have adjusted the capacities you can Reset the capacities or just Reset Load. If you Reset the capacities and get small values (less than or equal to 1) you can reset these to 0 by pressing the reset button again. You can also Save and Restore the capacities to use again later or List saved capacities. With the list of saved capacities you can right-click on the desired list before you exit the list and capacities will be set to those values. You can also Add to Batch file. You press Proceed to execute Powermatch. (adjust_generators)
Dispatch Order The order in which the dispatchable technologies will be processed by Powermatch. You can change the order by clicking on each value and moving it up and down the list. The initial order is derived from the generators (facilities) table. If you want to exclude a generator you can drag it to the right hand list (and drag it back to the left to re-include)
Done, Summary, Detail,
Batch, Transition, Optimise,
Preferences, Help, TML Detail		 As well as the buttons beside the sheet options there are a number of buttons at the bottom of the menu, as described below:

Powermatch Batch

To expand upon that described above there is also an ability to specify a range of values for technologies rather than having to repeat many input columns. This enables a large number of batch inputs to be specified in a compact manner. The input format for each technology to have multiple values is: 

      start;stop;step;order
Where:
startStarting capacity
stopEnding capacity
stepCapacity increment
orderMake this technology the first set of ranges; this is only needed if this is not the first technology with a range

If more than one technology is specified with a range the Batch report will have multiple output worksheets, one for each value in the first range. The sheets are named in number sequence starting from 01. Subsequent technologies will be repeated for each “higher” level technology. The second technology will be presented as a Merged Group. Individual Model names will be derived from the third, or second, technology range.

The following example shows a batch input table (column) with three capacity ranges. Onshore Wind is the first technology and results in 7 worksheets of output, one for each technology step for Wind. Each worksheet contains 36 model outputs, for a total of 252 models. The worksheets have 6 Merged Groups, one for each step for Single Axis PV with each Merged Group having 6 values for Battery (4hr) and individual Model names are derived from Battery capacity. In a real-world example this approach has been used to create 26 sheets with a total of over 17,500 models in a single execution of Powermatch.

Batch input table
  
Model LabelModel 1
Capacity (MW/MWh)MW
Single Axis PV0;3000;600
Onshore Wind0;6000;1000;1
Battery (4hr)0;5000;1000
Gas OCGT1,800.00
Gas Recip3,900.00
Total
Discount Rate0.07
Carbon Price75.00
  
RE 
Load Analysis 
To Meet Load (MWh) 
LCOE ($/MWh) 
Carbon 
Emissions (tCO2e) 
Generation (MWh) 
Capacity Factor 
  
   Batch report - partial output for worksheets 01 and 07
 Onshore Wind_0_Single Axis PV_0... PV_600
 B4-0B4-1000B4-2000B4-0
Capacity (MW/MWh)    
Single Axis PV   600
Onshore Wind    
Battery (4hr) 1,0002,000 
Gas OCGT1,8001,8001,8001,800
Gas Recip3,9003,9003,9003,900
Total Capacity (MW/MWh)5,7006,7007,7006,300
     
RE    
RE %age0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%
Storage %age    
RE %age of Total Load0.0% 0.0%0.0%0.0%
     
Load Analysis    
Load met23,874,23123...23...23...
Load met %age100.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%
Shortfall7,7697...7...7...
     
01
 Onshore Wind_6000_Single Axis PV_3000
 B4-2000B4-3000B4-4000B4-5000
Capacity (MW/MWh)    
Single Axis PV3,0003,0003,0003,000
Onshore Wind6,0006,0006,0006,000
Battery (4hr)2,0003,0004,0005,000
Gas OCGT1,8001,8001,8001,800
Gas Recip3,9003,9003,9003,900
Total Capacity (MW/MWh)16,70017,70018,70019,700
     
RE    
RE %age81.4%81.4%81.4%81.4%
Storage %age2.1%3.1%3.9%4.8%
RE %age of Total Load83.6% 84.5%85.4%86.2%
     
Load Analysis    
Load met23,882,00023...23...23...
Load met %age100.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%
Shortfall0000
     
07

Batch charts

With the Batch option there is a possibility to produce a set of charts (graphs) to display impacts of a range of models. The functionality is somewhat limited and should be considered as useful for creating protoype charts rather than fully formatted ones. The specifications for charts can be included in the input worksheet after the desired report details. Charts are created in a worksheet placed after the results worksheet. Charts are specified by a number of rows of information in the first three columns of the input worksheet. The first column is the chart parameter, the second contains the report group as in the report outputs, the third contains the row (e.g. technology) of interest. These are the chart parameters:

Parameter Details Item Description
Chart Model Group   Defining a chart and the model group of interest, or all models. The group of interest is defined by merged cells above the model names. In this example, 'Merged Group' will include 'Model 1', 'Model 2' and 'Model 3'.
 Merged Group 
Model LabelModel 1Model 2Model 3Model 4
Title Title   The chart title
X-Title X axis title   The title for the X (horizontal) axis
Y-Title Y axis title   The title for the Y (vertical) axis
Y-Title2 Second Y axis title   The title for a second Y (vertical) axis
Categories Report Group Item Category (X axis) labels. Can also set Details as Model or Model Label to use the Model Labels
Data Report Group Item Data row. This can be repeated for multiple rows of data
Data2 Report Group Item Data row for the second Y axis. This can be repeated for multiple rows of data

As the Batch report contains repeating item values, one for each report group, Powermatch uses the Report group to identify the row of interest.

Powermatch Optimisation

In an attempt to simplify the process of determining the optimal generation mix, Powermatch has an optimisation function. This function can assist in providing a starting point for determining the optimal mix rather than the optimal mix itself. The function uses a genetic algorithm to identify three possible optimal solutions:

  1. A solution with the lowest LCOE for the input renewable and dispatchable technologies
  2. A solution with the best (lowest) weighting for six variables - lowest LCOE, lowest CO2 emissions, lowest Overall Cost, lowest surplus generation, highest RE percentage and maximising the percentage of load met
  3. A solution with the lowest LCOE and weighting for six variables. Running both does use a single population and so there is some “interaction” between them which may distort the result
If a carbon cost is included the LCOE with CO2 Cost is used for evaluation of the lowest LCOE

Genetic algorithms are inspired by the process of natural selection and simulate evolution of multiple generations that evolve to produce an optimal solution, in this case 1. lowest LCOE 2. lowest weighted solution, or 3. lowest in both (Note: This is a different approach to optimisation than in Power Model). The approach has a number of inputs:

Notes on multi-variable inputs

The Powermatch optimisation approach uses the Optimisation table to define the range of possible values for each of the renewable technologies and dispatchable and storage facilities. Entries are required for all Renewable technologies and dispatchable and storage facilities. The fields are:

NameName of the Technology (matches either RE or generator)
ApproachApproach for how this generator will be treated. There are two options:
  • Discrete. A list of discrete Capacities representing individual generation units (facilties) for the technology, e.g. individual generators
  • Range. The (total) Capacity for the technology is divided into a number of equal steps. A minimum capacity can also be defined
    CapacitiesThe capacities for a Discrete generator. This is a series of numbers separated by spaces
    Capacity MaxThe maximum (total) capacity for a Range
    Capacity MinThe minimum capacity for a Range
    Capacity StepThe size of each capacity step for a Range

    The capacity fields can be a single field, Values, as a string of numbers separated by spaces. For Discrete this will be a string of capacities and for Range it will be three Capacity numbers - Min, Max and Step. If optimise_default is set this can be used to set optimisation table entries for missing facilities. The default entry can have two or three options separated by commas, as follows:

    Powermatch optimisation approach is as follows:

    1. Generate a chromosome as defined by the Optimisation table
    2. Create an initial population, each member with a random copy of the chromosome
    3. Calculate fitness of population. Select either (1.) lowest LCOE that meets 100% of load (demand), (2.) lowest weighting, or (3.) the lowest of both. For each member:
      1. Using their chromosome and the Optimisation table determine the capacity for each technology
      2. Run Powermatch with this generation mix to calculate (1.) the LCOE (score) and (2.) the weighting
    4. For each iteration
      1. Select the best parents by competition
      2. Breed new population by random crossover of chromosomes for winners
      3. Randomly mutate the population
      4. Calculate fitness of population. Select either (1.) lowest LCOE that meets 100% of load (demand), (2.) lowest weighting, or (3.) lowest of both
      5. Exit loop if LCOE has remained the same for the specified number of iterations
      6. Include either (1.) lowest LCOE, (2.) lowest weighting or (3.) lowest of both in the next iteration
    5. Produce
      1. A chart showing the progression of LCOE over each iteration
      2. A three dimensional plot showing the best individual for each iteration. The three variables with the highest weighting are chosen for the plot. It is also possible to pick one of the solutions by clicking the mouse on that point - a small box showing the values for each of the three variables will be displayed. You can “rotate” the plot around by holding down the left mouse button and then moving the mouse (optimise_multiplot; default is True)
      3. Optionally, a table showing the best individual for each iteration. You can also choose an individual by clicking anywhere on the desired row. On entry the top row of the table will have the lowest weight and will be chosen on exit (optimise_multitable; default is False)
    6. Optionally, produce tables for best candidate (1.) with lowest LCOE and (2.) lowest weighting if the more_details property is set to True
    7. Optionally, present a table for the optimal solutions (optimise_multitable; default is False). The table shows the adjustment values and capacity for each generator followed by the estimated value for each of the six multi-variables prioritised by Weight. By pressing the appropriate button the adjustment values for the chosen solution will be made available for Summary and Powermatch

    Minimal Preferences file for Powermatch

    It is possible to run powermatch with a minimal Preferences file. If you have a Powermatch data file produced from Powermap you can use that as an input to Powermatch without having access to the full set of SIREN files. As well as the [Powermatch] Section of the Preferences file the only properties required are:

    pmtmldetail

    pmtmldetail is a small utility that will take a powermatch Detail worksheet and create a new worksheet that contains additional detail on the breakdown of generation for RE technology. The utility will breakdown hourly generation into four categories:

    1. Generation. The original Generation figure as presented in the Detail worksheet
    2. TML. How much generation was used to meet load
    3. Charge. How much generation was used to recharge storage
    4. Surplus. Surplus or spilled generation

    The utility adds an additional row, Split, at the top of the worksheet to indicate which category the RE generation relates to. No changes are made to non_RE generation.
    Note: You need to open the spreadsheet and save it before it can be used by powerplot.

    The program displays a window of options.

    Results File The input Powermatch Results file
    Results Sheet The Detail worksheet from the file
    Tml Detail File the name of the target file to contain the TML Detail worksheet
    Done, TML Detail,
    Preferences, Help    		 At the bottom of the window are a number of buttons:
    • Done Exit the program and save the input values. Preferences are saved in the [Powermatch] section of the Preferences
    • TML Detail Produce the detailed worksheet
    • Preferences. Edit the Preferences file
    • Help. Display the pmtmldetail help

    Other Charts

    There are two other programs available to produce charts from SIREN data. Powerplot is intended to handle columns of hourly or half hourly data produced by Powermatch. Flexiplot is an experimental feature intended to simplify producing charts from columns or rows of data.

    Plot Navigation

    The tool used to produce the charts, matplotlib, has a navigation toolbar (Interactive navigation) to enable you to navigate and manipulate the chart (but doesn't allow you to change the chart data). It includes options to zoom into an area of the chart and to save the chart image (by default to the scenarios folder). By default the size of charts produced is determined by matplotlib, or by the Maximise Plot windows option (above). By using the orientation, papersize, and save_format Properties of the [Power] section it is possible to produce the charts in a number of formats, such as PDF format, and in a specific page size and layout. If you use these options you can save charts in a standardised format (these Properties can be added and removed by using the Preferences -> Edit Section menu option).

    For most charts the Pan/Zoom option (Pan/Zoom) enables you to zoom in on the chart using the right mouse button and to pan across the chart using the left mouse button.

    For the two hourly charts (Power by hour and Power by hour - augmented) and charts produced by Powerplot, other than Pie Charts, there is a modified pan and zoom feature to enhance visual examination of the chart:

    It is also possible to move the legend for Pie Charts produced with a legend.

    Note: For cumulative (stacked) charts produced by Powerplot this feature may perform slowly so please be a little patient

    3D Plot Navigation

    3D charts are produced by a different tool, plotly.

    Powerplot

    powerplot is a standalone program that will produce either hourly, half-hourly or diurnal charts from a spreadsheet that conforms to certain constraints. It is intended to be used to chart (detailed) results either from Powermatch or some of the files produced by Powermap's Powermodel.

    The program can also be used to either: The correlation or contribution can be for the full year or a chosen period or range of months.

    The spreadsheet must have:

    1. A header row that defines the content of the underlying rows (this need not be the first row)
    2. The first (header) column should be Hour for hourly data or Interval for half-hourly data, and the second should be Period with a cell format of yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm. The program uses the year in the first period row to determine if the data is for a leap year
    3. The rows immediately following the header row should contain data for each hour or half-hour of the year (either 8,760 or 17,520 for a normal year and 8,784 or 17,568 for a leap; or a smaller number for an incomplete year)
    4. If you encounter an error “Data error with column (<Column><Row>). Period may be incomplete (n)” it may be because the spreadsheet has incomplete data (not enough rows) or it may be worthwhile opening and the saving the spreadsheet
      (this error is likely to be encountered with a Step Day Chart for an incomplete year)
    The program displays a window of options. The default values are specified in the [Powerplot] Section of the Preferences file. It is possible to have a number of entries for files (file_choices) listed in recent order (file_history).
    Recent Files A pull-down list of recent spreadsheets. Click on the desired spreadsheet to choose a different one from the list. The list will be ordered in terms of most recently accessed first (file_history)
    File Click on this field to choose the desired spreadsheet (file)
    Sheet A pull-down list to enable you to choose the desired worksheet (sheet)
    Period(s), List Files A pull-down list for a full year, a month or other defined seasons or periods that may be defined in the Preferences file. If an option other than <None> is chosen the resulting chart will present an average diurnal chart for the chosen period (period). If the first period is a month a second pull-down list allows you to choose an ending month range. This can either be a later month in the year or, if earlier than the first value, months will wrap to the start of the year. For example, Period 1 of Nov and Period 2 of Feb will correlate Nov, Dec, Jan and Feb (period2)
    The List Files button allows you to list the recent files list and optionally remove entries from the list. To remove an entry you right-click on the Row number, click yes to delete the file (from teh list) and then press the Save button
    Day Produce a diurnal chart for a chosen day of the chosen period
    Target; line width and style A pull-down list of column names. If the chart is intended to show how the chosen columns meet a target column, typically Load, this enables you to choose that column. Choosing <None> means no target field. If a target field is chosen the chart will show excess generation as lightly shaded areas above the target values (target). You can also specify an alternate line width (target_width) and line style (target_style)
    A target is required for Contribution and Correlation
    Overlays This option allows overlays on the chart. It presents a pull-down list of options:
    • <none>
    • Charge The total of energy used to recharge storage to be shown as an overlay on the chart; it provides an indication of how and when excess energy has been used for recharge. If a Target, e.g. Load, is chosen the target values will be added to the figure to indicate the use of excess energy above the target.
    • Underlying load If available underlying load will be displayed on the chart. Underlying load includes the additional load met by Rooftop PV (DPV) rather than utility generation
    • It is also possible to choose a different overlay variable by “dragging” an entry from the Column Order tables to the Overlay field and then choosing it from the Overlay pull-down
    You can also specify an alternate line colour (overlay_colour), width (overlay_width) and line style (overlay_style)
    By default there is one overlay field but you can set a higher number by setting no_of_overlays
    Header, Header Font Specify a header - super title - for the chart. There are two special strings which will be replaced in the header:
    • $YEAR$ will be replaced with the year (first Period value)
    • $MTH$ or $MONTH$ will be replaced with the chosen Period
    If it's not a diurnal chart (i.e. Period is <None>) any occurence of ’Diurnal‘ in the header wil be removed (header).

    The button next to the Header field allows you to change the font attributes for the Header (header_font)

    Title, Title Font Specify a title for the chart. As for the header field the two special strings $YEAR$ $MTH$ or $MONTH$ will be replaced with the chosen Period. If it's not a diurnal chart (i.e. Period is <None>) any occurence of ’Diurnal‘ in the title wil be removed (title).

    The button next to the Title field allows you to change the font attributes for the Title (title_font)

    Maximum You can specify a maximum value for the Power (y) axis. This allows you to produce a series of charts with the same scale (maximum)
    Type of Plot The type of chart to be produced. Options are Bar Chart, Cumulative, Heat Map, Line Chart, Pie Chart, Step Day Chart, Step Line Chart and 3D Surface Chart. Bar Chart, Cumulative and Step Chart produce cumulative (stacked) charts and have filled areas by technology (or Columns). A Step Chart is similar to a Bar Chart but does not have spaces between the hourly bars; also it is a lot faster to display than a Bar Chart (a Bar Chart is not recommended for hourly charts). If a Target field (e.g. Load) is chosen the area above the Target value (i.e. excess generation) in the Cumulative and Step chart have a lightly shaded value (the degree of shading is chosen by the alpha property in the [Powerplot] Section of the Preferences file). A Heat Map visualises the total value of chosen columns to indicate the highest through lowest values of the range or, if a target column is chosen, an indication of how the total value meets the target value. Each “square” or “cell” of the map represents an hour; the vertical axis is hours in a day and the horizontal axis is days for the chosen period. (plot)
    A Step Day Chart presents a step chart with daily figures calculated by summing the 24 hours of each day
    A 3D Surface Chart will present the data as a 3D Surface Chart. It will either produce daily charts or monthly charts for months greater than the months_3d property
    Percentage Checking this option will produce a percentage (stacked) curve. The chart will have filled areas showing the percentage of generation for each technology. It is recommended to not set a Target field (i.e. set it to <None>) as this will merely remove the Target field (and it's data) from the chart (percentage)
    Spill label Use this to set a suffix for Legend entries for spilled energy. If the field is blank no spilled energy labels will appear in the Legend (spill_label)
    Show Grid The gridlines to be included on the chart. Options are Both, Horizontal, Vertical and None. The default is None (grid)
    Breakdowns
    A TML Details worksheet breaks down RE generation into a number of categories. This option allows you to choose which categories to chart. You select those you wish to chart and drag them to the left hand column. To produce a chart that shows generation to meet load, charging of storage, and surplus you should drag TML and Surplus to the left hand column and drag Charge <battery> columns to the left hand Column Order above any other items. In producing the chart the first breakdown will have the normal colour for the technology while the others will have a translucent colour and possibly a pattern. This allows the breakdowns to be related by colour and yet distinguished by translucency. To aid in readability it is possible to produce a shorter legend that removes the breakdowns entries by setting the property short_legend property in the [Powerplot] section of the Preferences file to True. An example of options for plotting TML details might look something like this:

    TML Plot

    Note: After you create a TML Detail spreadsheet you need to open the spreadsheet and save it before it can be used.

    Column Order To produce the chart you select those columns to be included. This field consists of two tables (lists) of columns. Those in the left hand list will be included in the chart while those on the right will be excluded. The included columns will be charted in the chosen order. You can drag individual or a number of columns between the two lists to get the desired configuration. The chart colour for the column will be displayed as the background color for the column (columns)
    Contribution or Correlation will be performed between the target and each of the chosen columns
    Label Font, Ticks Font These buttons allow you to change the font attributes for chart labels and label tick marks (label_font, ticks_font)

    Done, Plot, Colours, Legend..., Pref...,Help
               Plot 12, Extras, Co...    		 At the bottom of the window are a number of buttons:
    • Done Exit the program and save the input values. Input preferences and colours are either saved in a SIREN preferences file or in a specific file, powerplot.ini, if no Peferences file is passed to the program
    • Plot Produce the chart. If there are missing colours you will be taken to the Colours window to add the colour. You need to set a colour and press the Save & Exit button
    • Colours Press this button to change the chart colours or to add new colours. You can remove a chart colour by right-clicking the colour (it will be cleared and the item deleted when you Save & Exit). Colours are held in the [Plot Colors] Section of the Preferences file.
      If the palette property in the [Plot Colors] Section of the Preferences file is set to True you can create a palette sequence of colours for columns selected in both the included and excluded lists. If you select columns and then press the Colours button you will be given the option to set a starting and ending palette colour and the colours for the chosen columns will be updated to a range of colours between the chosen values
    • Legend Properties Change the font attributes for the Legend (legend_font) plus other attributes (legend_ncol, legend_on_pie, legend_side)
    • Preferences Edit the Preferences file
    • Help Display the help for Powerplot
    • Plot 12 If plot_12 is set an additional button is presented to allow wide and low_height graphs to be produced. This allows monthly charts to be produced to fit on a page (e.g. A4) in portrait format. The individual charts can be produced using plot navigation (m), saved and then inserted into a page
    • Extras If extras is set an additional button is presented to allow some experimental variables to be set.
      Three allow a secondary Y axis to be displayed. At present the secondary axis is calculated by transforming values from the first Y axis.
      • y2_label sets the secondary axis label
      • y2_transform allows the transform formula to be set as some action against Y, e.g. y*.03
      • y2_inverse allows an inverse formula to be set, e.g y/.03. If not specified will be used by “inverting” the operators - * and /
      The final variable is
      • overlay_type which describes how the overlay value will be calculated for a Step Day Chart. The options are Average, Sum, or an individual hour of the day, e.g. 00:00. An example of usage could be where you overlay a battery balance, say at end of each day, where battery balance at a specific hour could be useful
    • Co... Perform either an analysis of contribution or correlation to a target. These options are presented by setting either the show_contribution or show_correlation Property of the [Powermatch] section of the Preferences file to True. If both properties are set show_contribution takes precedence.

      Contribution Calculate the percentage contribution of each chosen column in meeting the target. This will present a table showing the percentage contribution for each month in the chosen period.

      Correlation Perform linear correlations between the target and the chosen columns. This will present a table showing the correlations in descending order (i.e. best first)

      Correlation coefficients whose magnitude are between 0.9 and 1.0 indicate variables which can be considered very highly correlated. Correlation coefficients whose magnitude are between 0.7 and 0.9 indicate variables which can be considered highly correlated. Correlation coefficients whose magnitude are between 0.5 and 0.7 indicate variables which can be considered moderately correlated. Correlation coefficients whose magnitude are between 0.3 and 0.5 indicate variables which have a low correlation. Correlation coefficients whose magnitude are less than 0.3 have little if any (linear) correlation (from https://www.andrews.edu/~calkins/math/edrm611/edrm05.htm).

    Notes:

    Flexiplot

    flexiplot is a standalone program that can be used for “prototyping” a more conventional Excel spreadsheet where data is arranged in rows or columns. The program is very much experimental. If it proves useful it may be included as part of powerplot in the future. The program has a similar window of options to powerplot but with a number of different options. The default values are specified in the [Flexiplot] Section of the Preferences file.

    The program uses the terms Abscissa (or X), Ordinate (or Y) and Applicate (or Z) for the three axes of the charts. The Applicate axis only relates to 3D Surface Charts.

    Recent Files (as above)
    File (as above)
    Sheet, Open File, List Files (as above). The Open File button allows you to open the file to examine the content to assist in setting the field values
    Title, Title Font Specify a title for the chart. As for the header field the two special strings $YEAR$ $MTH$ or $MONTH$ will be replaced with the chosen Period. If it's not a diurnal chart (i.e. Period is <None>) any occurence of ’Diurnal‘ in the title wil be removed (title).

    The button next to the Title field allows you to change the font attributes for the Title (title_font)

    Abscissa (X), Data direction, Data Row/Column These fields indicates whether the data is in rows or columns and which row or column identifies the label (title) for the data. For example, if the data is a time series and the times/dates are in columns the data direction would be Data in Rows with the offset fields specifying the label column. This convention is chosen as the actual data series will be in rows
    Abscissa Series, Show X Series, other X Series The first field is a pull-down list to enable you to identify the Abscissa row or column. The pull-down list contains row / column values with the actual Excel-style cell in brackets after the value
    The Show X Series button will display the values in a simple table
    The final field allows you to choose another cell in the same row /column
    Abscissa Label, Label Font, Ticks Font This allows you to type in a text value for the Abscissa (X) label; the default value is the Abscissa Series
    Ordinate Series (Y) To produce the chart you select those columns to be included. This field consists of two tables (lists) of columns. Those in the left hand list will be included in the chart while those on the right will be excluded. The included columns will be charted in the chosen order. You can drag individual or a number of columns between the two lists to get the desired configuration. If it is defined the chart colour for the column will be displayed as the background color for the column (columns)
    The list contains row / column values with the actual Excel-style cell in brackets after the value
    flexiplot attempts to identify if input data is possibly in table format suitable for a 3D Surface Chart by identifying duplicate data rows. This may result in the list “hiding” some data. If this is the case adjusting the minimum_3d property
    Ordinate Label, Show Y Series This allows you to enter a text value for the Ordinate (Y) label
    The Show Y Series button will display the values for the chosen data in a simple table. If the data is for a 3D chart these will likely be blank
    Applicate (Z) Label This allows you to enter a text value for the Applicate (Z) label
    The Show Y Series button will display the values for the chosen data in a simple table. If the data is for a 3D chart these will likely be blank
    Maximum You can specify a maximum value for the Power (y) axis. This allows you to produce a series of charts with the same scale (maximum)
    Type of Chart The type of chart to be produced. Options are Bar Chart, Cumulative, Line Chart, Pie Chart, Step Chart and 3D Surface Chart. Bar Chart, Cumulative and Step Chart produce cumulative (stacked) charts and have filled areas by technology (or Columns). A Step Chart is similar to a Bar Chart but does not have spaces between the hourly bars; also it is a lot faster to display than a Bar Chart (a Bar Chart is not recommended for large sets of data).
    A 3D Surface Chart will present the data as a 3D Surface Chart
    Percentage Checking this option will produce a percentage (stacked) curve. The chart will have filled areas showing the percentage of generation for each technology. It is recommended to not set a Target field (i.e. set it to <None>) as this will merely remove the Target field (and it's data) from the chart (percentage)
    Show Grid The gridlines to be included on the chart. Options are Both, Horizontal, Vertical and None. The default is None (grid)
    Done, Chart, Colours, Legend..., Pref...,Help At the bottom of the window are a number of buttons:
    • Done Exit the program and save the input values. Input preferences and colours are either saved in a SIREN preferences file or in a specific file, flexiplot.ini, if no Peferences file is passed to the program
    • Plot Produce the chart. If there are missing colours you will be taken to the Colours window to add the colour. You need to set a colour and press the Save & Exit button
    • Colours Press this button to change the chart colours or to add new colours. You can remove a chart colour by right-clicking the colour (it will be cleared and the item deleted when you Save & Exit). Colours are held in the [Plot Colors] Section of the Preferences file.
      If the palette property in the [Plot Colors] Section of the Preferences file is set to True you can create a palette sequence of colours for columns selected in both the included and excluded lists. If you select columns and then press the Colours button you will be given the option to set a starting and ending palette colour and the colours for the chosen columns will be updated to a range of colours between the chosen values
    • Legend Properties Change the font attributes for the Legend (legend_font) plus other attributes (legend_ncol, legend_on_pie, legend_side)
    • Preferences Edit the Preferences file
    • Help Display the help for Powerplot

    Notes:

    Feedback

    This model is very much a work in progress. To improve it's usefulness to a wider community we encourage any feedback on how it might be improved. Feedback to siren@sen.asn.au.

    SIREN File Formats

    SIREN accepts a number of file formats for each of the data files it uses. In many cases input files can be either a CSV or Excel (XLS or XLSX) file. Due to the initial source for each data file the format for each may be different. For CSV and Excel files the first cell for each column is usually taken as the column name.

    Notes:

    1. The majority of Excel files output by SIREN are in XLSX format by default, although in most instances XLS (or CSV) can be specified. Powermatch only produces XLSX files for Detail and Batch
    2. If KML files have <styleUrl> colour elements these may override colour Properties in the Preferences file

    The files and formats are as follow:

    actual_power A CSV or Excel (XLS or XLSX) file containing a column of hourly generation in MWh for each (existing) station for each hour of the year (8,760 hours)
    bom A CSV or Excel (XLS or XLSX) file containing details on those BOM sites you want displayed on the map. This file format is the same as towns (see below) with some additional column name options
    grid_areas A KML (or KMZ) file defining areas within the map. These can be used to help visualise such things as environmentally sensitive areas. The property can be suffixed with a number 1 through 5 to enable a number of files with different areas to be loaded. Any string of <coordinates> in a <LinearRing> is used to draw an area within the grid boundary. Multiple zones can be defined. Colour for the grid areas can be set by the grid_areas Colour option
    grid_boundary A KML (or KMZ) file defining the boundary for the grid. Any string of <coordinates> in a <LinearRing> is used to draw the grid boundary or boundaries. Colour for the grid boundary can be set by either the grid_boundary Colour option or by a <styleUrl> colour element in the KML file
    grid_network A KML (or KMZ) file defining the grid network. Any string of <coordinates> in a <LineString> is used to draw a grid line. The <name> will be used as the Line name. This file defines the grid network SIREN uses to add in additional stations and trace their paths to load centres. As such, this should be a very simplified grid and relies on all lines connecting to one another in a true grid network. Making this grid too complex slows down the process of connecting lines and tracing paths. Colours for the lines can be set by either <styleUrl> colour elements in the KML file or grid_colour Colour options, where colour equals the lines' <styleUrl>, e.g.grid_s_66kv=#774110.
    grid_stations A file defining actual stations on the grid. This can be an Excel (XLS or XLSX) file in the same format as scenario files (there is also a special CSV format for SWIS stations based upon the AEMO facilities file)
    grid_stations2 A file defining additional stations on the grid. This can be an Excel (XLS or XLSX) file in the same format as scenario files. This additional file allows you to specify stations that you want to include that are not part of the existing grid, such as Rooftop PV stations
    grid_zones A KML (or KMZ) file defining zones within the grid boundary. Any string of <coordinates> in a <LinearRing> is used to draw a zone within the grid boundary. Multiple zones can be defined. Colour for the grid boundary can be set by the grid_zones Colour option
    grid2_network A KML (or KMZ) file defining the actual grid network. Any string of <coordinates> in a <LineString> is used to draw a grid line. <styleUrl> colour elements may be used for the line colour. Alternatively, a standard set of colours based upon line capacity, as defined by <SimpleData name="CAPACITY_kV">, <SimpleData name="CAPACITYKV>, or <SimpleData name="kv> elements, can be used. These values can be set by grid2_line_capacity Colour properties where line_capacity is the line capacity, e.g. grid2_66=#774110 for a 66kV line. It can be a detailed as you like and doesn't require accurate connections (SIREN makes no use of it)
    helio_positions A simple CSV file of heliostat positions for Solar Thermal. This is provided by SIREN (from SAM modelling)
    load A CSV or Excel (XLS or XLSX) file containing a single column of hourly load demand for each hour of the year (8,760 hours)
    optical_table A simple CSV file of mirror/optical layout for CST. This is provided by SIREN (from SAM modelling)
    pm_template A template file defining the layout for a Powermatch scenario file. This can only be an Excel (XLSX) file. The template file only allows defined technology types for RE inputs. These are:
    (Load), Onshore Wind, Offshore Wind, Rooftop PV, Fixed PV, Single Axis PV, Dual Axis PV, Biomass, Geothermal, Other 1, and CST.
    pow_files To augment the list of turbines provided by SAM you can create individual files in old-style WAsP Power Curve (.pow) format. SIREN uses the data in these files to produce a power curve in the same format as SAM by running a 13th order polynomial on the POW file. The file is a simple text file with rows defined as set out here. All values are enclosed in double quotes. Row contents are:
    1. Turbine name
    2. Rotor diameter
    3. Ignored
    4. Cut out speed (m/s)
    5. Cut in speed (m/s)
    6. Power output in kW at 0 m/s
    7. Power output in kW at 1 m/s
      ... Additional rows specify power output at speeds increasing by 1 m/s
    8. Power output in kW at 25 m/s
    resource_grid A CSV or Excel (XLS or XLSX) file used by SIREN to assist with showing the resource grid. This file is created to summarise weather variables for certain periods to enable a grid of resource variables to be overlaid on the map
    sam_turbines This file format is defined by SAM. It is possible to produce a subset of wind turbines by creating a copy of the file provided by SAM (remember to always retain the (three) header rows)
    scenario A CSV or Excel (XLS or XLSX) file containing stations for a scenario. The columns for the file are as defined in the Stations Simulation Objects. The filenames must start with the filename prefix specified in the scenarios property in the [Files] Section of the Preferences file. It is possible to provide a brief description for the scenario in the first row of the file. This is indicated by a value of Description: in the top left cell followed by the description in the next cell
    solar_files These are solar weather files in one of the formats defined by SAM. SIREN uses the filename to define the location and year for the file by separating the filename by an underscore as follows:- anything_anything_latitude_longitude_year.filetype
    solar_index Using this file you can specify a list of solar weather files to be used by SIREN. This option allows you to use filenames that don't conform to SIREN's convention, such as the TMY files provided by SAM. The file can be either a CSV or Excel (XLS or XLSX) file and contains three columns:
    • Latitude. Weather file latitude
    • Longitude. Weather file longitude
    • Filename. Weather filename
    towns A CSV or Excel (XLS or XLSX) file containing details on towns/locations you want displayed on the map. As a minimum the file should have columns for town, latitude and longitude. The columns recognised by SIREN are:
    • Country. The location's country. The default is currently AUS
    • Elev. The location's elevation
    • Latitude. The location's latitude
    • Lid. Location ID, such as a BOM station identifier
    • Longitude. The location's longitude
    • State. The location's State
    • Town, Site Name or Station Name. The name for the location
    variable_files SAM technology models use a variety of input and output variables to process a renewable energy station. These variable files are used by SIREN to pass appropriate values to SAM, as defined in the DEFAULT column. A value of Input means the value will be provided by SIREN from details for the station or as specified in the Preferences file. It is possible to create your own copy of the files provided by SIREN to override any of the input variables. The files can be either a CSV or Excel (XLS or XLSX) file
    wind_files These are wind weather files in one of the formats defined by SAM. SIREN uses the filename to define the location and year for the file by separating the filename by an underscore as follows:- anything_anything_latitude_longitude_year.filetype
    wind_index Using this file you can specify a list of wind weather files to be used by SIREN. This option allows you to use filenames that don't conform to SIREN's convention, such as the TMY files provided by SAM. The file can be either a CSV or Excel (XLS or XLSX) file and contains three columns:
    • Latitude. Weather file latitude
    • Longitude. Weather file longitude
    • Filename. Weather filename

    SAM Wind Turbines

    SAM provides a file, Wind Turbines.csv, which is used to create power curves for wind turbines. The first four columns of data are self-explanatory; the last has generation output in .25 m/s increments used to produce the power curve. Wind Turbines Subset.csv, distributed with SIREN, has a subset of the to enable a shorter list to be displayed. You can create your own subset of files for SAM's file.

    To augment this list, to cater for both older turbines (e.g. 'Vestas V27-225Kw') and more recent ones (or those not in SAM's list; e.g. 'Vestas V150-4.2Mw'), SIREN also accepts .pow files as described above.

    Supporting Notes

    Obtaining a Suitable Map Image

    Among other publicly available resources, OpenStreetMap provides a set of open map tiles (“Slippy Map” tiles. Refer http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Slippy_Map) which can be stitched together into a single image. These produce a traditional map type. A satellite map can be obtained from MapQuest (https://www.mapquestapi.com/staticmap/ or you can save an image from another source such as Google Maps. Map data copyright (©) OpenStreetMap contributors CC-BY-SA http://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright. You can obtain a suitable image using getmap.

    getmap

    getmap is a program that can be used to create a map image for any area of the globe. Using this program you can obtain a map from one of the two sources above. You specify:

    You can invoke the program either by choosing getmap from the SIREN Tools menu or in Windows by running getmap.exe in the siren folder. Running it with no parameters will present an interactive window to allow you to define the map/image desired. getmap displays a map of the world to visualise the chosen are of interest at a global scale. The window fields are:

    There are six buttons:

    After producing the map you should copy the contents of the Properties field into the [Map] Section of the Preferences file.

    You can also run the program on the command line. In this case the parameters are passed to the program as follows:

          getmap.exe <north_latitude west_longitude south_latitude east_longitude zoom output_file_name zoom=zoom width=width height=height url=map_url>

    The first six parameters are positional.

    An output_file_name of ? will calculate the size of the map and indicate the boundaries for the map

    Map Preferences

    Many options can be specified by a preferences file. The following properties in the [Map] Section are created by getmap.

    Section Properties
    [Map] Details on the map including geographic boundaries. Properties are:

    map Map file showing area of interest. The map can be any graphic image, even a blank image such as provided in the sample files as blank.jpg
    map_choice It is possible to choose one of a number of maps using the map_choice parameter. Properties suffixed with the map_choice value will override the default values. For example, map_choice=1 will use values from map1 etc. and will use colours from the [Colors1] section
    projection Map projection such as EPSG:3857. EPSG:3857 (WGS 84 / Popular Visualisation Pseudo-Mercator) is a Spherical Mercator projection coordinate system popularised by web services such as Google and later OpenStreetMap. It allows an area of the earth to be projected as a rectangle. This is the format created by getmap
    lower_right lower right corner of the map in format latitude, longitude
    upper_left Upper left corner of the map in format latitude, longitude

    Obtaining Current SWIS Facilities

    The initial SWIS data provided with SIREN is for 2014 and 2015 with existing renewable stations at that time. Updates to this data are available on the AEMO Market Data website. The SWIS data used by SIREN is as follows.

    SWIS Network

    SIREN uses a simplified network to reduce the overhead in adding stations into the network and to trace their links to the Perth Load Centre. This simple network was derived from a national network diagram for Australia available in a number of formats, including as a KMZ file, from Geoscience Australia (Electricity Transmission Lines; accessed Oct 2017)

    There is also a list of Australian power stations available (Power Stations; accessed Oct 2017)

    Existing Stations (Facilities)

    SIREN uses the list of registered facilities available from AEMO (specifically facilities.csv) for it's existing stations. If you want an updated version you can use updateswis to obtain the current list (see below).

    Load Data

    Prior to October 2023 the load data for the SWIS has been obtained from Load Summary data available from AEMO. SIREN uses hourly load data rather than half hourly. The figures used are derived by summing the ‘Operational Load (MWh)’ data for the two half hourly intervals. You can use updateswis to obtain the latest load data (see below). The SWIS load data is generally available mid-month for two months prior.

    The AEMO also publish facility SCADA data.

    updateswis

    updateswis.py is a Python program that can be used to access the current list of facilities (power stations) for the SWIS and to obtain recent load data. The program will download the list of existing stations and optionally update the file SIREN uses for existing stations (grid_stations property of the [Files] Section of the Preferences file). To aid readability you can optionally produce an additional file, either CSV or Excel (XLS or XLSX), that will save the list in the same format as a SIREN scenario file. Load data can also be downloaded for prior years to a filename defined by the load property of the [Files] Section of the Preferences file.

    You can run updateswis from the SIREN Tools menu or in Windows by running updateswis.exe in the siren folder. Running it with no parameters will present an interactive window to simplify passing parameters to the tool. The window fields are:

    There are four buttons:

    You can also run the program on the command line. In this case the parameters are passed to the program as follows:

          updateswis.exe <SIREN.ini parm1=value parm2=value>

    Parameters are as described above and can be passed to the program as follows. If either wrap or year is passed as a parameter load data will be obtained, otherwise facility data will be obtained.

    Obtaining and Using Satellite Reanalysis Data for SAM weather files

    SAM uses meteorological solar and wind data to model output of various renewable energy technologies. Satellite data is a suitable source to generate data files containing all weather variables required for input to SAM. NASA MERRA-2 data has been used as one source of data by SIREN since 2015. More recently ECMWF ERA5 data has been identified as another source. Both sources provide the hourly data required for the SAM models and show strong correlation between generation calculated by the SAM models and actual SCADA generation data (AEMO facility SCADA data) for the SWIS. In recent years the overall generation figures from MERRA-2-derived weather files is 25% to 30% higher than the actual SCADA generation figures while the ERA5-derived figures are around 2% higher suggesting ERA5 may be a better source for weather data (refer to Validation of ECMWF ERA5 Data and the SAM Models and Validation of NASA MERRA-2 Data and the SAM Models). A more detailed and (geographically) wider analysis is warranted.

    Obtaining and Using ECMWF ERA5 Data for SAM weather files

    Using ECMWF ERA5 Data for input to SAM

    ECMWF ERA5 data is a suitable source to generate data files containing all weather variables required for input to SAM. It allows weather files to be created on a grid of 0.25 degree of longitude by 0.25 degree of latitude or at a larger scale. This is approximately an area of 25 km x 25 km for the SWIS latitudes.

    ERA5 hourly data on single levels from 1940 to present provides data suitable to our needs.

    Obtaining ERA5 Data

    ERA5 Data is publicly available and the following steps can be used to obtain the required data.

    To access ERA5 data you need to create a CDS account

    Once set up you can either fill in the data request form or use getera5 - see Get ERA5 Files. The data request form is at ERA5 hourly data on single levels from 1940 to present. To fill in the form you choose the following options:

    For timezones greater than zero, such as the SWIS (8 hours), you also need to process a request for Month = 12 and Day = 31. For timezones less than zero you also need to process a request for Month = 1 and Day = 1.

    You can see the progress of your requests. Once complete you need to save the file in the format era5_data_yyyy.nc or era5_data_yyyymm.nc.

    Get ERA5 Files

    getera5 provides an easier alternate way of downloading ERA5 files than that described above. This approach launches a program that uses the CDS API, cdsapi, to issue the data request as above and save the file or files in the target folder. You still need to create a CDS account.

    When you first execute getera5 it will request the check for a .cdsapirc file and if it can't find one it will prompt for the details required - these are your CDS UID and API Key which are displayed on your CDS User profile. If you've invoked getera5 in a Windows terminal window and a HOME environment variable does not exist you will need to close and reopen a new terminal window to make the environment variable available to getera5.

    getera5

    getera5 is a program that can be used to download ERA5 data files required to create weather files for SAM. You can invoke the program either by choosing getera5 from the SIREN Tools menu or in Windows by running getmerra2.exe in the siren folder. The program accepts a SIREN Preferences file as an optional parameter. The window fields are:

    There are five buttons:

    Downloading the ERA5 data are performed by new tasks allowing you to close the getera5 window once you have requested the files. Depending on the area and date range the process of downloading is likely to take significant time. A log file with the same name as the target file and a file type of log (e.g. era5_data_202301.log) will contain the results of the request and indicate it's success or otherwise.

    You can also run the program on the command line. In this case the parameters are passed to the program as follows:

          getera5.exe <parm1=value parm2=value>

    Parameters are as described above and can be passed to the program as follows:

    Notes:

    1. The first time you use getera5 you should run it interactively to ensure the correct environment (e.g. .cdsapirc file) is established
    2. If you invoke the program with target folder and check parameters the program will be launched to download more recent files into the target folder with the same area of interest as the existing files.

    Validation of ECMWF ERA5 Data and the SAM Models

    ECMWF ERA5 data allows weather files to be created on a grid of 0.25 degree of longitude by 0.25 degree of latitude. This is approximately an area of 24 km x 28 km for the SWIS latitudes.

    Correlations between generation calculated by SAM models using ECMWF ERA5 data and actual SCADA generation data (AEMO facility SCADA data) obtained by SEN for 2022, 2023 and 2024 are strong enough to support the use of ECMWF ERA5-derived data for the purposes of the simulation. Average correlation for 2024 was 0.72, varying from 0.65 to 0.81 for wind and 0.60 to 0.86 for utility scale PV farms on the SWIS network. The following figure graphically presents this correlation for 2024 by showing progressive calculated generation (dotted lines) with actual SCADA data (solid lines) for each renewable generation station on the SWIS. There is some variability between the two sets of data for each stations but total calculated generation is within 4% of actual SCADA data.

    Correlation

    Obtaining and Using NASA MERRA-2 Data for SAM weather files

    Using NASA MERRA-2 Data for input to SAM

    NASA MERRA-2 data is a suitable source to generate data files containing all weather variables required for input to SAM. It allows weather files to be created on a grid of 0.625 degree of longitude by 0.5 degree of latitude. This is approximately an area of 55 km x 55 km for the SWIS latitudes.

    Two MERRA-2 data files are appropriate for our needs:

    Obtaining MERRA-2 Data

    MERRA-2 Data is publicly available and the following steps can be used to obtain the required data.

    Register for access

    To access MERRA-2 data you need URS Authentication as follows:

    1. Read Data Access or EDL User Knowledge Base
    2. Go to https://urs.earthdata.nasa.gov/ and register a username
    3. After registering login into your account and choose the My Applications menu option
    4. Click the APPROVE MORE APPLICATIONS button
    5. Search for NASA GESDICS DATA ARCHIVE and APPROVE that application
    6. Create a .netrc file for authentication to download the MERRA-2 files.

    Obtaining data

    As an easier alternative to following these steps you might want to use getmerra2 - see Get MERRA-2 Files.

    1. Enter the MERRA-2 data subset URL, http://disc.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/daac-bin/FTPSubset2.pl in your browser
    2. Within the MDISC Data Subset page choose appropriate options as follows:
      1. Data Product
        Select Data Product from the pull-down list:
        1. MERRA-2 tavg1_2d_slv_Nx for wind
        2. MERRA-2 tavg1_2d_rad_Nx for solar
      2. Spatial Search
        Select area of interest. As a minimum the spatial bounding box must be at least 1.25 x 1.0. For the SWIS choose:
        W: 113 N:-26 S: -37 E: 123
        Press Update Map to check geographic spread
      3. Temporal Order Option
        Select range of dates. It is most convenient to select full years. As times are UTC we need the last last day of the prior period (year) to obtain data for the initial hours of the first day in the local timezone (8 hours for WA)
      4. Parameters
        To reduce the size of the data files select just those variables we need:
        1. tavg1_2d_slv_Nx
          ps t10m t2m u10m u2m u50m v10m v2m v50m
        2. tavg1_2d_rad_Nx
          swgdn and/or swgnt
        3. tavg1_2d_flx_Nx, tavg1_2d_lnd_Nx or tavg1_2d_mld_Nx (experimental)
          prectot
      5. Output File Format
        Select NetCDF from the pull-down list
      6. Press Start Search
    3. Follow the instructions on the resulting FTP Subset Results page (Subsetted Data Download Instructions)
      1. Save the list of URLs
      2. Copy the file to the sub-folder you want the files downloaded to
    4. Open a terminal window and navigate to the sub-folder you want the files downloaded to
      1. Run the wget command as displayed in the FTP Subset Results page. This uses the downloaded list. You can copy and paste the command into the terminal window. The command will be something like 
        wget --load-cookies ~/.urs_cookies --save-cookies ~/.urs_cookies --auth-no-challenge=on --keep-session-cookies -i ...
        You should use the --content-disposition option in your wget command to avoid Filename too long errors (that is... 
        wget --load-cookies ~/.urs_cookies --save-cookies ~/.urs_cookies --auth-no-challenge=on --keep-session-cookies --content-disposition -i
        If your userid contains a space you may need to enclose ~/.urs_cookies in quotes, e.g. "~/.urs_cookies"

    This process uses wget to download the MERRA-2 data files. Typically there is a single file for each day of interest so using wget simplifies the process of downloading them. Wget is a free network utility to retrieve files from the World Wide Web using HTTP and FTP, the two most widely used Internet protocols. There are versions available for most platforms.

    wget for Windows

    Earlier versions of wget for windows will not work with the requirements for URS authentication. Version 1.18 has been successfully tested. The following steps highlight an approach:

    1. Obtain a suitable version of wget, such as wget-1.18-win32.zip for the full package or wget.exe for just wget itself. Only the .exe file is required
    2. Create a .netrc file as described in the Wget with URS Authentication link above
    3. Create a HOME environment variable which points to the folder containing the .netrc file (typically this is set to Users/username)
    4. Open a terminal window, navigate to where you have the list of urls and invoke wget

    Get MERRA-2 Files

    getmerra2 provides an easier alternate way of downloading MERRA-2 files than that described in Obtaining data. This approach uses wget but removes the need to manually follow those steps above. You still need to Register for access.

    When you first execute getmerra2 it will check for a .netrc file and if it can't find one it will prompt for the details required. If you've invoked getmerra2 in a Windows terminal window and a HOME environment variable does not exist you will need to close and reopen a new terminal window to make the environment variable available to getmerra2.

    getmerra2

    getmerra2 is a program that can be used to download MERRA-2 files required to create weather files for SAM. You can invoke the program either by choosing getmerra2 from the SIREN Tools menu or in Windows by running getmerra2.exe in the siren folder. The program accepts a SIREN Preferences file as an optional parameter. The window fields are:

    There are seven buttons:

    Downloading the MERRA-2 files are performed by new tasks allowing you to close the getmerra2 window once you have requested the files. Depending on the area and date range the process of downloading is likely to take significant time. A log file named wget_type_yyyy-mm-dd_hhmm.log will be produced, where type is either wind or solar and yyyy-mm-dd_hhmm.log is the date and time wget was invoked. A file named wget_type_yyyy-mm-dd_hhmm.txt will contain the list of files to be downloaded and wget_type_yyyy-mm-dd_hhmm.bat will contain the wget command (in case you encounter problems).

    You can also run the program on the command line. In this case the parameters are passed to the program as follows:

          getmerra2.exe <parm1=value parm2=value>

    Parameters are as described above and can be passed to the program as follows:

    Notes:

    1. The first time you use getmerra2 you should run it interactively to ensure the correct environment (e.g. .netrc file) is established
    2. If you invoke the program with collection, target folder, check and wget parameters wget will be launched to download more recent files into the target folder with the same area of interest as the existing files.
    3. Occasionally MERRA-2 datasets will be reprocessed, e.g. September 2020, which may result in a change to the location of the files on the NASA MERRA-2 server. This may require the filename property in the [getmerra2] section of the Preferences file used by getmerra2. For example, for September 2020 the string ‘MERRA2_400’ needs to be changed to ‘MERRA2_401’ to download files for that month.

    Validation of NASA MERRA-2 Data and the SAM Models

    NASA MERRA-2 data allows weather files to be created on a grid of 0.625 degree of longitude by 0.5 degree of latitude. This is approximately an area of 55 km x 55 km for the SWIS latitudes.

    Initial correlations between generation calculated by SAM models using NASA MERRA data and actual SCADA generation data (AEMO facility SCADA data) obtained by SEN in 2014 are strong enough to support the use of NASA MERRA-derived data for the purposes of the simulation. Average correlation was 0.77, varying from 0.70 to 0.83 for wind and 0.95 for the one utility scale PV farm on the SWIS network. The level of correlation measured in 2014 has continued over the years. The following figure graphically presents this correlation for 2022 by showing progressive calculated generation (solid lines) with actual SCADA data (dotted lines) for each renewable generation station on the SWIS. Average correlation for 2022 was 0.80, varying from 0.56 to 0.78 for wind and and 0.75 to 0.92 for utility scale PV farms on the SWIS network. There is some variability between the two sets of data for each stations and total calculated generation is about 25% greater than actual SCADA data.

    Correlation

    Note: Initially, the swgnt (surface net downward shortwave flux) MERRA variable was used to generate the solar weather variables. This produced outputs that were slightly lower than observed data. To compensate for this a losses percentage of 5 (percent) was used for the SAM pvwattsv5 model. Subsequent work has identified the swgdn (surface incoming shortwave flux) MERRA-2 variable as a more appropriate resource. Using this variable, a losses percentage of 14 - the SAM default - can be used. Validation using either variable (swgnt and 5%, or swgdn and 14%) produces essentially identical results and correlations.

    Produce wind and solar weather files

    makeweatherfiles

    makeweatherfiles is a program that can be used to produce solar and/or wind weather files for input to SAM. The program generates SMW (preferred for SAM) or CSV format solar resource files and SRW format wind resource files. These file formats have been chosen as they're easier to generate than other formats. Using the program you specify the source folder for either the ERA5 or MERRA-2 data files, the time zone for the area of interest, a file format and target folder for the weather files. The program will generate files for each of the ERA5 or MERRA-2 grid squares within the chosen data files or optionally for a number of latitude and longitude positions. You can invoke the program either by choosing makeweatherfiles from the SIREN Tools menu or in Windows by running makeweatherfiles.exe in the siren (or makeweatherfiles) folder. Running it with no parameters will present an interactive window to simplify passing parameters to the tool. The window fields are:

    There are six buttons:

    Creation of weather files may take some time so please be patient. There are two progress bars that will display to indicate how far along the process the program is. The tool will produce an output report which will include the list of weather files produced. The report will include a return code as follows:

    You can also run the program on the command line. In this case the parameters are passed to the program as follows:

          makeweatherfiles.exe <parm1=value parm2=value>

    Parameters are as described above and can be passed to the program as follows:

    Notes:

    1. MERRA-2
    2. ERA5
    3. A packaged version of makeweatherfiles for Windows is available in Microsoft Installer Format at https://sourceforge.net/projects/sensiren/. The file is makeweatherfiles.msi (the package has been created with PyInstaller and built in MSI format). It contains three programs makeweatherfiles to create weather files, getera5 which enables ERA5 files to be downloaded, and getmerra2 which enables MERRA-2 files to be downloaded. This package allows you to create SAM weather files from either ERA5 or MERRA-2 files without requiring any other parts of SIREN
    4. With increasing hub heights associated with larger turbines the SAM models are impacted by the lack of suitable wind speed data at greater heights. The MERRA-2 climate data has a maximum wind speed height of 50 metres which will cope with hub heights up to around 85 metres. The ERA5 data has a maximum wind speed height of 100 metres which will cope with hub heights up to around 135 metres. To overcome the wind data limitation the Hub height parameter can be used to extrapolate wind speeds to a greater (hub) height. makeweatherfiles will extrapolate wind speed using either of two commonly used laws (models). The law to be used can be specified in the extrapolate property of the [makeweatherfiles] Section of the getfiles.ini Preferences file, and can be either logarithmic, the default, or Hellmann. This additional data will be added to the normal wind file.

      Discussions on the two wind profile laws can be found at ‘Wind profile power law’ (aka Hellmann law; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_profile_power_law) and ‘Log wind profile’ (aka logarithmic law; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Log_wind_profile). The Hellmann law tends to give slightly higher wind speeds. ‘Methodologies Used in the Extrapolation of Wind Speed Data at Different Heights and Its Impact in the Wind Energy Resource Assessment in a Region’ (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221912731_Methodologies_Used_in_the_Extrapolation_of_Wind_Speed_Data_at_Different_Heights_and_Its_Impact_in_the_Wind_Energy_Resource_Assessment_in_a_Region) provides a fuller discussion on the topic.

    Using getera5, getmerra2 and makeweatherfiles

    To make use of getera5, getmerra2 and makeweatherfiles the following steps should help:

    SAM Weather Files

    Wind Files

    SRW format wind files are one of the formats acceptable to SAM. This format has been chosen as it's easier to generate than other formats. MERRA-2 variables from tavg1_2d_slv_Nx data files are used to create the SRW variables.

    SRW Variables MERRA-2 Variables
    Column Variable Units   Description Units
    1 Temperature (at 2m) oC t2m Temperature at 2 m above the displacement height oK
    2 Pressure (at 0m) atm ps Time averaged surface pressure Pa
    3 Direction (at 2m) degrees u2m Eastward wind at 2 m above displacement height m/s
    4 Speed (at 2m) m/s v2m Northward wind at 2 m above the displacement height m/s
    5 Temperature (at 10m) oC t10m Temperature at 10 m above the displacement height oK
    6 Direction (at 10m) degrees u10m Eastward wind at 10 m above displacement height m/s
    7 Speed m/s v10m Northward wind at 10 m above the displacement height m/s
    8 Direction (at 50m) degrees u50m Eastward wind at 50 m above surface m/s
    9 Speed (at 50m) m/s v50m Northward wind at 50 m above surface m/s
    Solar Files

    SMW format solar files are one of the formats acceptable to SAM. This format has been chosen as it's easier to generate than other formats. MERRA-2 variables from both tavg1_2d_rad_Nx and tavg1_2d_slv_Nx data files are used to create the SMW variables.

    SMW Variables MERRA-2 Variables
    Column Variable Units   Description Units
    1 Tdry oC t10m Temperature at 10 m above the displacement height oK
    5 Wspd m/s u10m Eastward wind at 10 m above displacement height m/s
    6 Wdir degrees v10m Northward wind at 10 m above the displacement height m/s
    7 Pres ps Time averaged surface pressure Pa
    8 GHI W/m2 swgdn /
    swgnt    		 Surface incoming shortwave flux
    Surface net downward shortwave flux
    (from tavg1_2d_rad_Nx data files)    		 W/m2
    9 DNI W/m2 swgdn /
    swgnt    		    
    10 DHI W/m2 swgdn /
    swgnt    		    

    Background on ERA5

    “ERA5 is the fifth generation ECMWF reanalysis for the global climate and weather for the past 8 decades. Data is available from 1940 onwards. ERA5 replaces the ERA-Interim reanalysis.
    Reanalysis combines model data with observations from across the world into a globally complete and consistent dataset using the laws of physics. ... Reanalysis does not have the constraint of issuing timely forecasts, so there is more time to collect observations, and when going further back in time, to allow for the ingestion of improved versions of the original observations, which all benefit the quality of the reanalysis product.”

    Background on MERRA-2

    “The Modern Era Retrospective-analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 (MERRA-2) is a NASA atmospheric data reanalysis for the satellite era using a major new version of the Goddard Earth Observing System Data Assimilation System Version 5 (GEOS-5). MERRA-2 focuses on historical analyses of the hydrological cycle on a broad range of weather and climate time scales, and places the NASA EOS suite of observations in a climate context.”

    Using other Weather Files

    The use of ERA5 or MERRA-2 data for the weather files is not necessary but provides a way of obtaining (gridded) weather data for any geographic area. Any weather files suitable for SAM can be used by SIREN. Weather Data describes these file formats and Weather Data for non-U.S. Locations gives some details on where non-U.S. weather data may be obtained.

    SIREN has two approaches for obtaining weather files:

    1. Having the geographic location of the file as part of the filename. This option uses filename formats of <location_latitude_longitude_year> and includes files created from MERRA-2 data by makeweatherfiles. The location for weather files for solar and wind are defined by the solar_files and wind_files properties in the [Files] Section of the Preferences file
    2. By using an index file. To use other files you need to create index files that contain the latitude, longitude and filename for each weather file, where the filename is relative to the location for the weather files. Index files for solar and wind are defined by the solar_index and wind_index properties. You can either create these files manually or use indexweather to create an index
    indexweather

    indexweather is a program that can be used to create an index of solar and/or wind weather files for input to SAM. The program generates an index file that contains latitude, longitude and filename for each weather file. It does this by interrogating some of weather file formats supported by SAM - SAM CSV, SMW and SRW - to obtain the three variables. You can invoke the program either by choosing indexweather from the SIREN Tools menu or in Windows by running indexweather.exe in the siren folder. Running it with no parameters will present an interactive window to simplify passing parameters to the tool. The window fields are:

    There are four buttons:

    You can also run the program on the command line. In this case the parameters are passed to the program as follows:

          indexweather.exe <parm1=value parm2=value>

    Parameters are as described above and can be passed to the program as follows:

    Visualising Renewable Resource Attributes

    To assist with placement of renewable energy stations SIREN can display a grid of renewable resource attributes derived from the SAM format weather files. This feature utilises summary data stored in a file rather than having to process hourly data from the weather files. The weather data values available are:

    The Resource Grid window allows you to choose the period and weather variable to display and how it will appear on the SIREN map. By default the period can be either the full year, a month or a season. If there are appropriate files you can also display the variable for an hour within a month or a day. The window also has a Next button which allows you to “step” through the weather periods. You can also use Page Down and Page Up to step forward and back through the weather periods.

    The resource files, created by makegrid, summarise weather data for each grid cell to avoid having to process each weather file to obtain the data for the desired time period or hour. There are three possible levels of detail:

    makegrid

    makegrid is a program that can be used to create the resource grid file used by SIREN. You can invoke the program either by choosing makegrid from the SIREN Tools menu or in Windows by running makegrid.exe in the siren folder. Running it with no parameters will present an interactive window to allow you to define what file to create. The window fields are:

    There are three buttons:

    After producing the file you may want to copy contents of the Properties field into the [Files] Section of the Preferences file.

    You can also run the program on the command line. In this case the parameters are passed to the program as follows:

          makegrid.exe <parm1=value parm2=value>

    Parameters are as described above and can be passed to the program as follows:

    If the source folder(s) contains other CSV files makegrid may fail. If this happens it is probably safer to copy the weather files to a separate folder.

    SAM Models used by SIREN

    SIREN uses the NREL SAM SDK API (or SSC) for energy calculations. The current SSC version is 206 (Feb 9 2019). This is a collection of tools developed by NREL for creating renewable energy system models. See SAM Simulation Core SDK for details on the SDK. NREL also provide a user-friendly front end, SAM, to facilitate usage of the SAM models. The SAM front end will allow you to progress any modelling by SIREN to a greater level of detail.

    The SAM models are very comprehensive and can be quite complex. For example, there are around 200 input variables possible for the Solar Thermal model SIREN uses. To simplify the interface to SAM, SIREN uses a variable file for each technology to store default values for most variables and only requires a minimal number of variables to be set by the user, such as Capacity. The models used by SIREN and their variable files are as follows:

    Technology SAM Model [SAM Modules] property SAM Description
    Biomass biomass biomass_variables Utility scale wind farm model (adapted from TRNSYS code by P.Quinlan and openWind software by AWS Truepower)
    CST tcsgeneric_solar cst_variables Generic CSP model using the generic solar TCS types
    Financial model 1 annualoutput annualoutput_variables Annual Output
    Financial model 2 ippppa ippppa_variables Utility IPP/Commercial PPA Finance model
    Geothermal geothermal geothermal_variables Geothermal monthly and hourly models using general power block code from TRNSYS Type 224 code by M.Wagner, and some GETEM model code
    PV
    Fixed PV
    Rooftop PV
    Single Axis PV
    Backtrack PV
    Dual Axis PV (Tracking PV)    		 pvwattsv5 pv_variables PVWatts V5 - integrated hourly weather reader and PV system simulator
    Solar Thermal tcsmolten_salt solar_thermal_variables CSP molten salt power tower with hierarchical controller and dispatch optimization
    Offshore Wind
    Wind    		 windpower wind_variables Utility scale wind farm model (adapted from TRNSYS code by P.Quinlan and openWind software by AWS Truepower)

    The variables SIREN requires are as follows. Those from the Preferences file are preceded with the Section they are in.
    Note: SAM Variables for tcsmolten_salt vary with SAM (SSC) Version

    SAM Model SAM Variable Source Comment
    annualoutput system_hourly_energy Power models Output from Power models
    biomass biopwr.feedstock.total [Biomass] multiplier Multiply by Station Capacity
    biopwr.feedstock.total_biomass [Biomass] multiplier Multiply by Station Capacity
    biopwr.feedstock.total_biomass_c [Biomass] multiplier Multiply by Station Capacity
    biopwr.feedstock.total_c   Computed from above plus carbon pct
    biopwr.plant.nameplate Station Capacity  
    file_name Station location Determines solar weather file to use
    system_capacity Station Capacity  
    geothermal file_name Station location Determines wind weather file to use
    hybrid_dispatch_schedule n/a Computed by SIREN
    nameplate Station Capacity  
    resource_potential Station Capacity * 10  
    resource_type Station Technology Currently computed as EGS
    ippppa construction_financing_cost capital_cost + grid_cost capital_cost from [<technology>],
    grid_cost from [Grid] calculations
    gen Power models Output from Power models
    system_capacity Station Capacity  
    total_installed_cost capital_cost + grid_cost Same as construction_financing_cost
    pvwattsv5 array_type Station Technology  
    azimuth Station Direction  
    dc_ac_ratio [PV] dc_ac_ratio May also specify for [Backtrack PV], [Fixed PV],
    [Rooftop PV], [Single Axis PV], [Dual Axis PV] (or [Tracking PV])
    losses [PV] losses  
    solar_resource_file Station location Determines solar weather file to use
    system_capacity Station Capacity Multiplied by dc_ac_ratio
    tilt Station Tilt  
    tcsgeneric_solar file_name Station location Determines solar weather file to use
    hrs_tes Station Storage_Hours or
    [CST] tshours    		  
    latitude Station latitude  
    longitude Station longitude  
    optical_table Mirror layout Provided by SIREN (from SAM modelling)
    system_capacity Station Capacity  
    timezone Station timezone Computed by SIREN from Station location
    w_des Station Capacity /
    [CST] gross_net    		  
    weekday_schedule n/a Computed by SIREN
    weekend_schedule n/a Computed by SIREN
    tcsmolten_salt Design_power Station Capacity  
    dispatch_sched_weekday n/a Computed by SIREN
    dispatch_sched_weekend n/a Computed by SIREN
    gross_net_conversion_factor [Solar Thermal] gross_net  
    helio_positions Heliostat layout Provided by SIREN (from SAM modelling)
    P_ref Station Capacity /
    [Solar Thermal] gross_net    		  
    solar_resource_file Station location Determines solar weather file to use
    system_capacity Station Capacity  
    tshours Station Storage_Hours or
    [Solar Thermal] tshours    		  
    vol_tank Station Capacity *
    storage hours *
    [Solar Thermal] volume    		  
    W_pb_design Station Capacity /
    [Solar Thermal] gross_net    		  
    weekday_schedule n/a Computed by SIREN
    weekend_schedule n/a Computed by SIREN
    windpower system_capacity Station Capacity  
    wind_farm_losses_percent [Wind] wind_farm_losses_percent  
    wind_farm_xCoordinates
    wind_farm_yCoordinates    		 [Wind] offset_spacing
    [Wind] turbine_spacing
    [Wind] row_spacing    		 Computed from these values
    wind_resource_filename Station location Determines wind weather file to use
    wind_turbine_cutin Station Turbine From turbine details
    wind_turbine_hub_ht Station Hub Height
    [...Wind] hub_height    		 From station details or computed
    wind_turbine_powercurve_windspeeds Station Turbine From turbine details
    wind_turbine_powercurve_powerout Station Turbine From turbine details
    wind_turbine_rotor_diameter Station Rotor  

    These files are Excel files. It is possible to update the variables by changing the value in the DEFAULT column. If the value is Input that variable is (already) set by SIREN. If you choose to use the changes to SIREN to support larger turbines (rotor diameter > 85) you can set the default value for wind_turbine_hub_ht in the windpower variables file to Input.

    Using the full power of SAM

    It is possible to use the full capabilities of SAM by one of two methods:

    1. Use SAM:
      1. Run the appropriate model and parameters for the station of interest
      2. Save the hourly power generation figures produce by SAM
      3. Update the Power File field for the station to point this file
      4. Rather than running the Power Model SIREN will access this data file to obtain the hourly figures
    2. Create a specific variables file for the technology you're interested in
      1. Using the existing file as a starting point create you own version of the file. The structure of the file is generally self-explanatory. Most of the file is created from the SDK with an addition DEFAULT column
      2. Update the appropriate property in the [SAM Modules] Section of the Preferences file to point to your file
      3. SIREN will then use your file to process that technology
      4. If you require different options for different stations with the same technology you can use the Save Hourly Data Output option to save the output for each station. Using Generation - from chosen stations you can create a more specific file

    Other Models used by SIREN (experimental)

    SIREN will support models to accommodate other technologies not supported by SAM models. As well as this it is possible to provide a list of generation figures for a Station using the Power File field (see Stations).

    BESS (Battery)

    This is currently a “placeholder” for battery energy storage systems

    Hydro

    The Hydro model used in SIREN is a very simplistic model computed by multiplying station capacity by the defined capacity factor for Hydro.

    Wave

    The Wave model used in SIREN is (currently) a very simplistic model computed using wind speed (after Bretschneider and Sverdrup and Munk): 

         Wave_Height = 0.023 * 0.3048 * (Wind_Speed * 1.94384)2  (0.3048 converts feet to metres, 1.94384 converts knots to m/s)
     Wave_Period = 0.45 * Wind_Speed * 1.94384
     Wave_Power = Wave_Height2 * Wave_Period * Efficiency of technology

    There is no constraint (such as being in water) on where Stations may be placed. The CFs are probably too high but can be reduced by capping wave height ([Wave] cutout) to, say, around 2.?m

    Other

    SIREN will also support creation of you own model to support other technologies. The approach is to execute a model formula that you create for each of the 8,760 hours of appropriate weather data to calculate the power produced for that hour. The formula can be created by referencing each of the weather data variables, any other variables you define for that technology plus normal mathematical operators (refer to en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Python_Programming/Basic_Math#Mathematical_Operators). The weather variables recognised are: dhi, dni, ghi, temp, wind, and wind50. To achieve this you need to:

    1. Identify the technology by giving it a name of Other plus a suffix, say Other Tech, and create a Section with that name in the Preferences file
    2. Create appropriate Properties for that technology and any other variables you want for it (see the [Other] Section in the Preferences file)
    3. There are standard Properties of area, capital_cost, icon, and o_m_cost.
    4. The formula is identified by the formula property. Any calculated value will be capped at 1 to prevent a CF greater than 1
    5. Add the technology (lower case with spaces replaced by underscores, e.g. other_tech) as a colour property in the [Color] Section of the Preferences file
    6. Add the technology (lower case with spaces replaced by underscores, e.g. other_tech) to the technologies property in the [Power] Section of the Preferences file
    7. If the technology can be regarded as dispatchable you can also add it to the dispatchable property in the [Grid] Section of the Preferences file (lower case with spaces replaced by underscores, e.g. other_tech)

    The following sample defines a technology, Other Wave, similar to the Wave model (above but with no cutout). It contains an additional property, efficiency. 
         [Other Wave]
     area=<area per MW>
     capital_cost<Capital cost per peak MW>
     efficiency=<technology efficiency>
     o_m_cost=<Operations and Maintenance cost per peak MW>
     formula=pow(0.0070104 * ( wind * 1.94384)**2,2) * 0.45 * wind * 1.94384 * efficiency * .125

    Select area on world map

    worldwindow can be used with getmap (see Obtaining a Suitable Map Image), getera5 (see Get ERA5 Files) or getmerra2 (see Get MERRA-2 Files) to choose the Area of Interest for a map or for downloading ERA5 or MERRA-2 data. It presents a world map and allows you to choose the area of interest by clicking within the map and updating the area values in the two calling programs

    Using worldwindow

    To use worldwindow you simply left click in the map the top left corner of the desired Area of Interest and then left click the bottom right corner. worldwindow will display a rectangle on the world map highlighting the desired area and update the Area of Interest in the calling program. To choose a different area just repeat the process.

    worldwindow Menu Structure

    View Overlay items on the world map. Those identified with a tick icon can be toggled on or off

    Scale Ruler  Scale Ruler (Ctrl+R) If True Display a Scale Ruler. If you want to move the ruler you need to toggle it off and then back on again
    Show Coordinates Grid  Coordinates Grid (Ctrl+G) Display a grid for every 10 degrees of latitude and longitude
    Show ERA5 / MERRA-2 Grid  ERA5 / MERRA-2 Grid (Ctrl+M) Display a grid for every ERA5 or MERRA-2 cell. Due to the number of cells (1,440 latitude x 1,440 longitude, or 720 latitude x 576 longitude) this is not very useful unless you zoom in
    many Areas  Show many Areas This will allow input of coordinates for a number of areas. You enter name (optional), upper latitude, west (left) longitude, lower latitude and east (right) longitude separated by commas for each area of interest. This will then update the map highlighting all areas on the map. This option is useful if you want to show a view of several areas of interest. Note: At present you cannot download maps for each area
    Save View  Save View (Ctrl+V) Save the current view to an image file
    Preferences Edit or display aspects of the getfiles Preferences file. Changes for some variables will take effect immediately on exit from the edit program while others (such as the map) will require you to restart the simulation

    Edit Preferences  Edit Preferences File(Ctrl+E) Edit the getfiles Preferences file. This option invokes a simple text editor to allow the whole file to be edited
    Edit Colours  Edit Colours (Ctrl+U) Edit colours for the world map
    Edit Section  Edit Section Edit a specific Section of the Preferences file. You will be presented with a list of Sections to choose the desired one. The edit program will then present a table of current Properties and their values
    Help Display some help about the program

    Help  Help (F1) Display the help for worldwindow. The default help file, help.html, is a standard HTML file which can be displayed with your browser

    getfiles Preferences

    The getfiles Preferences file contains preferences specifically for worldwindow, the programs using it and a number of the SIREN tools (getera5, getmap, getmerra2, makeweatherfiles, sirenupd, and updateswis). The file resides in the same folder as worldwindow itself.

    Section Properties
    [Colors] Colours for things. It is possible to edit colours and save the changes via a menu option. Standard colours are:

    white, black, red, darkRed, green, darkGreen, blue, darkBlue, cyan, darkCyan, magenta, darkMagenta, yellow, darkYellow, gray, darkGray, lightGray and transparent; or you can use #rrggbb to specify red-green-blue HTML colour shades.

    Colour properties are:

    background Colour for the background surrounding the map
    border Provide a border colour for areas of interest
    grid The colour for the latitude / longitude grid
    mgrid The colour for the MERRA-2 grid
    ruler Colour for the ruler. If you specify a value of guess the ruler should display white on dark and black on light (but it's not perfect)
    [Files] Files and directories. You can either specify the folder as the full path or relative to the siren folder (not the folder the Preferences file resides in). Properties are:

    help    Help file
    [getera5] These properties are used by getera5 to create requests to download ERA5 data files. Normally they should not be changed. They're here just to document their content and purpose. Values enclosed in dollars signs ($) are substituted at execution time. Properties are:

    api_url The URL for the Copernicus Data Store API, cdsapi
    retrieve_year By default monthly data is downloaded. Setting this property to True will cause a year of data to be downloaded (if a full year is requested)
    variables The shortcode names for the variables obtained from the Copernicus Data Store API. Each variable has it's long name as a separate property, such as var_sp for the surface_pressure variable
    var_<shortcode> The full variable name for the shortcode variable. Full names are passed to avoid naming conflicts with several of the shortcodes
    wait_days ERA5 datasets have preliminary data available about 5 days after the actual date, however, there is a three month delay in publishing the final data. As getera5 downloads monthly data the default is set to 93 days (31 * 3). You can use this property to override this default
    [getmerra2] These properties are used by getmerra2 to create requests to download MERRA-2 data files. Normally they should not be changed. They're here just to document their content and purpose. Values enclosed in dollars signs ($) are substituted at execution time. Properties are:

    filename The name of the MERRA-2 file on the NASA MERRA-2 server
    label Label parameter
    server The MERRA-2 server
    solar_collection The name of the MERRA-2 dataset used to obtain solar variables
    solar_esdt The short description of the MERRA-2 solar dataset
    solar_variables The variables obtained from the MERRA-2 solar dataset
    url_prefix URL prefix
    url_parms Parameters passed to the URL server
    wait_days MERRA-2 datasets are usually available about 42 days (i.e. 6 weeks) after the actual date. You can use this property to override the default number of 42 days
    wget used to create the filename strings used by wget
    wget_cmd The command used to invoke wget to download the MERRA-2 data files
    wind_collection The name of the MERRA-2 dataset used to obtain wind variables
    wind_esdt The short description of the MERRA-2 wind dataset
    wind_variables The variables obtained from the MERRA-2 solar dataset
    [getmap] These properties are used by getmap to create requests to download map images. Normally they should not be changed. They're here just to document their content and purpose. Properties are:

    mapquest_url MapQuest server
    mapquest_tail Command passed to the MapQuest server
    mapquest_key Key for MapQuest requests
    max_zoom Specify the maximum zoom level for map tile downloads. The default of 11 is to restrict large downloads
    url_template URL template for openstreetmap requests
    [makeweatherfiles] These properties are used by makeweatherfiles to produce wind files with extrapolated wind speeds. Properties are:

    hub_height A Hub height to extrapolate wind speeds above the limitations of MERRA-2 data
    extrapolate The law (model) to extrapolate wind speed data. This can be either Hellmann or logarithmic. Default is logarithmic
    [Map] Details on the world map. Properties are:

    map Map file showing the world. The map can be any graphic image, even a blank image such as provided in the sample files as blank.jpg. Default is world1.jpg
    map_choice It is possible to choose one of a number of maps using the map_choice parameter. Properties suffixed with the map_choice value will override the default values
    projection Map projection such as EPSG:3857. EPSG:3857 (WGS 84 / Popular Visualisation Pseudo-Mercator) is a Spherical Mercator projection coordinate system popularised by web services such as Google and later OpenStreetMap. It allows an area of the earth to be projected as a rectangle
    lower_right lower right corner of the map in format latitude, longitude. -85.06, 180. is the desired value
    upper_left Upper left corner of the map in format latitude, longitude. 85.06, 180. is the desired value
    [Parents] As per Parents
    [sirenupd] These properties are used by sirenupd to check for new versions of SIREN programs and to download them. Properties are:

    local The location of the SIREN files on a local disk. This option allows a “local” folder to be used to contain updated programs
    url The location of the SIREN files on SourceForge
    wget_cmd The command used to invoke wget to download files
    [updateswis] These properties are used by updateswis to create requests to download AEMO data files. Normally they should not be changed. They're here just to document their content and purpose. Values enclosed in dollars signs ($) are substituted at execution time. Properties are:

    aemo_facilities AEMO facilities file location
    aemo_load AEMO load file location
    aemo_url AEMO server
    [View] Default world view options. Often these are True or False values that can be “toggled” in the world map. Properties are:

    centre_on_grid If True then centre on the chosen area of interest
    line_width Width of grid lines on the map in pixels. A line width of zero indicates a cosmetic pen. This means that the pen width is always drawn one pixel wide, independent of the level of zoom. This is the default. A value > 0 will show lines at this width irrespective of the size of the map. A value < 1 and > 0 will be used to calculate the number of pixels by multiplying the width of the map image by this value. A useful value is 0.0016. For example a map image 12,000 pixels wide will have grid lines 19.2 pixels wide
    ruler Length of ruler in kilometres in format or length, ticks where length specifies the total length of the ruler and ticks ticks indicates the length of tick marks along the ruler
    zoom_rate The zoom rate for the map view. Each zoom in or zoom out action will alter the displayed map by this amount. Values can be between .75 (75% or 133%) and 0.95 (95% or 105%). The default value is 0.8
    [Windows] Provides options to remember the world map window layout between sessions. Properties are:

    main_pos Position of world map window
    main_size Size of world map window
    main_view Dimensions of map in main window view
    restorewindows If True worldwindow will remember the window layout between sessions. Default is False

    Acronyms

    AEMO Australian Energy Market Operator. Responsible for operating the WEM
    API Application Programming Interface
    BESS Battery Energy Storage System
    BOM Australian Bureau of Meteorology
    C3S The Copernicus Climate Change Service
    CDS Climate Data Store - Copernicus
    CF Capacity Factor. Average power generated divided by rated capacity (peak power)
    CO2-e A measure of greenhouse gas emissions in carbon dioxide equivalence. Greenhouse gas emissions can be one of a number of gases including carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). The equivalence measure allows the global warming potential of each greenhouse gas to be standardised relative to carbon dioxide
    CSP or CST concentrated solar thermal power
    CSV (or csv) comma-separated-variable file
    debugging The process of identifying and removing errors from computer hardware or software
    DHI Diffuse Horizontal Irradiance
    DNI Direct Normal Irradiance
    DPV Distributed, or Distribution network-connected, Solar Photovoltaic (aka Rooftop PV)
    DSCR Debt-Service Coverage Ratio
    ECMWF European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts
    EGS Enhanced Geothermal Systems geothermal energy
    EOS Earth Observing System
    ERA5 Fifth generation ECMWF reanalysis for the global climate and weather for the past 8 decades
    ERA5T ERA5T (near real time) preliminary data. Used to fill the gap between the end of the ERA5 data and 5 days before the present date
    Facility In the context of this help file the term facility may be used to represent either a generator or storage facility
    FTP File Transfer Protocol. A standard network protocol used to transfer computer files between a client and server on a computer network
    GMT Greenwich Mean Time. It is the mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. GMT was formerly used as the international civil time standard, now superseded in that function by Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
    GEOS-5 Goddard Earth Observing System Data Assimilation System Version 5
    GHI Global Horizontal Irradiance
    GMAO US Global Modeling and Assimilation Office
    GWh Gigawatt hour
    HDR Hot Dry Rock geothermal energy. In the context of SIREN's use of the SAM geothermal model this is the same as EGS
    HTML Hyper Text Markup Language; used for describing web documents (web pages)
    HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol. An application protocol for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web
    IMO WA Independent Market Operator. Formerly, responsible for operating the WEM
    INI Initialisation or configuration file popularised by early version of Windows
    IPP Independent power producer
    IRR Internal rate or return
    JPEG or JPG Joint Photographic Experts Group. A compressed image file format
    Kb kilobytes - 1,000 or 1,024 bytes
    km Kilometre (or kilometer)
    KML Keyhole Markup Language. An XML based file format used to display geographic data in an Earth browser such as Google Earth, Google Maps
    KMZ A zipped KML file
    kW Kilowatts
    kWh Kilowatt hour
    LCOE Levelised cost of electricity. “The levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) is a measure of a power source which attempts to compare different methods of electricity generation on a consistent basis. It is an economic assessment of the average total cost to build and operate a power-generating asset over its lifetime divided by the total energy output of the asset over that lifetime. The LCOE can also be regarded as the average minimum price at which electricity must be sold in order to break-even over the lifetime of the project.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levelized_cost_of_energy)
    LCOG Levelised cost of generation. “The weighted average cost of generation assuming no curtailment for all technologies that contributed to electricity generation during a given year.” (Review of alternative methods for extending LCOE to include balancing costs; from 100% renewable electricity in Australia)
    LCOS Levelised cost of storage. “The cost of kWh or MWh electricity discharged from a storage device when accounting for all cost incurred and energy produced throughout the lifetime of the device.” (https://www.storage-lab.com/levelized-cost-of-storage)
    LOL Lower Operating Limit. The (safe) lower limit a generator can run at.
    m/s metres per second
    Mb megabytes - 1,000 or 1,024 Kb
    MERRA Modern Era Retrospective-analysis for Research and Applications is a NASA atmospheric data reanalysis for the satellite era
    MERRA-2 Modern Era Retrospective-analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 is a NASA atmospheric data reanalysis for the satellite era
    MW Megawatt
    MWh Megawatt hour
    NASA US National Aeronautics and Space Administration
    NREL US National Renewable Energy Laboratory
    PNG Portable Network Graphics. A lossless compressed image file format
    POW A power curve file format associated with WAsp. The power curve file contains the wind turbine power output and, optionally, the thrust coefficient as a function of hub-height wind speed
    PPA Power purchase agreement
    SAM System Advisor Model
    SCADA Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition. A system for remote monitoring and control
    SDK Software Development Kit
    SEN Sustainable Energy Now
    SIREN SEN's Interactive Renewable Energy Network tool
    SMW A special SAM weather file format for sub-hourly simulations with the physical trough model. It contains only the weather data elements used by SAM's solar models
    SRW A special SAM weather file format for the wind power model. The format allows you to use wind resource data at one or more heights above the ground
    SSC SAM Simulation Core
    SWIS South West Interconnected System. The electricity network for the south west of WA
    TMY Typical Meteorological Year. Selected weather data for a specific location, generated from a data bank much longer than a year in duration. Gives annual averages that are consistent with the long-term averages for the location in question
    URL Uniform Resource Locator. A reference (an address) to a resource on the Internet
    U.S., US or USA United States (of America)
    UTC Coordinated Universal Time
    W Watts
    WA Western Australia or Western Australian
    WACC Weighted Average Cost of Capital. The weighted average cost of capital (WACC) represents a firm's average cost of capital from all sources, including common stock, preferred stock, bonds, and other forms of debt
    WAsP Wind Atlas Analysis and Application Program
    WEM Wholesale Electricity Market for the SWIS
    XLS (or xls) Original file format for Excel spreadsheets. XLS files are stored internally in binary format
    XLSX
    (or xlsx)    		 Default file format for Excel spreadsheets since 2003. XLSX files are stored internally in an XML format. They are compressed files and are typically smaller than an equivalent XLS file
    XML Extensible Markup Language. A markup language that defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format which is both human-readable and machine-readable.