The format for "near shadings" file generated by PVsyst has changed so the PVsyst near shading import button in the Edit Shading Data window for the PV models does not work for PVsyst V7.x. SAM can currently import files from V5 and V6. Sample files for PVsyst V5, V6, and V7:

pvsyst-near-shading-samples.zip

Workaround is to enter the data by hand:

1. Open the shading file in a spreadsheet program, and multiply the shading factors by 100% to convert from factors to percentages.

2. In SAM, go to the Shading and Layout page, and click Edit shading.

3. Check Enable solar azimuth-by-altitude beam irradiance shading losses. This will expand the panel with a table for entering shading losses into the table.

4. Count the number of data columns and rows in the file from PVsyst and enter the values in SAM.

5. PVsyst uses solar azimuth angle values from -180 to 180 while SAM uses 0 to 360, so add 180 to the PVsyst column header values before pasting them into SAM.

6. SAM expects the solar altitude values to increase from top to bottom, so starting with the last row in the PVsyst file, copy and paste each row of data into SAM from top to bottom.

7. Check Enable constant sky diffuse shading loss and enter the diffuse shading loss from the PVsyst file (remember to convert to a percentage).