Power Analytics maintains libraries for over 30,000 Grid Elements for unparalleled ability to model and simulate virtually any size power system.

What are grid elements?

“Grid Element” is the term that Power Analytics uses for all the devices that comprise a power network. The description of the Grid Element is often referred to as a library. This includes power cables (e.g. busses and branches) and all the other elements of the network, especially protective devices (e.g. fuses, breakers, relays), as well as generation, loads, transformers, inverters, etc.

How are they developed?

The vast majority of Grid Elements have been developed over the past 30 years. Some of the elements have been developed by Power Analytics customers and submitted to be verified and distributed to all customers. Any user who has a current license/support agreement receives access to all Grid Element libraries as part of the software license/support agreement. Many of the most sophisticated Grid Element libraries were developed by Power Analytics under contract from equipment suppliers (e.g. micro CHP products from Yanmar, and photovoltaic devices developed as part of research for the Department of Energy).

Why do they matter?

The Grid Elements are fundamental to the power model, which is central to approach to power system analysis and design. Depending on the objectives of the analysis, the Grid Element are applied with varying degrees of detail and depth. For example, how a motor starts either for generation or load or how energy storage discharges are critical factors for planning essentially any microgrid or distributed generation power system. As the planning and understanding of the essential nature of power networks increases (part of reverse power flow networks), Grid Elements (both 50 and 60 Hz networks) increase in importance. DB has more than 30,000 different Grid Elements, which increases continuously. Recreating these Grid Element libraries would necessitate a substantial investment of time and money.