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Knowledge Base
Step-by-step guides, validation studies and free example models for load flow, short circuit, arc flash, harmonics, renewables and more. New to a term? Look it up in the glossary.
- 38 guides, models and calculators
- Written by the Electrisim engineering team
- Free to read
New here? Start with these
Study guides
How each analysis works and how to run it in Electrisim.
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Study guide
Load flow, step by step
Run AC load flow with pandapower or OpenDSS: inputs, bus types, the numerical method and how to read the results.
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Study guide
Short circuit analysis
Run fault studies with the open-source engines and review fault currents and results on the diagram.
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Study guide
Arc flash (IEEE 1584-2018)
Arcing current, incident energy, arc-flash boundary and PPE category for 208 V to 15 kV systems.
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Study guide
Harmonic analysis (IEEE 519)
Define spectra, run harmonic power flow in OpenDSS and check VTHD and branch currents against IEEE 519-style limits.
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Study guide
Transient stability with ANDES
Time-domain simulation of rotor angles and voltages after a bus fault or a line trip.
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Study guide
Motor starting and voltage dip
Voltage dip against limits for DOL, soft-start, star-delta, autotransformer and reactor starters.
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Study guide
N-1 contingency analysis
Single-outage AC load flow with thermal and voltage limit checks, interactive results and CSV export.
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Study guide
Optimal power flow (OPF)
Import the pandapower OPF example network and run optimal power flow from the Simulate menu.
Free calculators
Quick checks for one transformer, cable or load. Results update as you type.
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Free calculator
Short-circuit current calculator
Fault current, peak current and fault level at a transformer’s secondary terminals, with IEC 60909 factors.
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Free calculator
Cable sizing calculator
Smallest copper or aluminium cable for your voltage drop limit and short-circuit current, plus the derated current-carrying capacity it needs.
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Free calculator
Voltage drop calculator
Cable voltage drop and power loss for three-phase, single-phase and DC circuits, with IEC 60228 conductor data.
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Free calculator
Power factor correction calculator
Capacitor bank size in kvar for a target power factor, with current, capacitance per phase and line-loss reduction.
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Free calculator
Per-unit calculator
Base impedance and current, ohms to per-unit and change of base for transformers, lines and generators.
Renewables, storage and grid connection
Wind, solar, battery and data center connection studies.
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Renewables & grid
Wind farm reactive power compensation
Size reactive power compensation for an onshore wind farm step by step, using P-Q diagrams.
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Renewables & grid
33 MW wind farm short circuit
IEC 60909 duties (ikss, ip, ith), earth-fault versus three-phase faults, vector group effects and an OpenDSS cross-check.
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Renewables & grid
BESS sizing and preliminary design
Hit point-of-connection P/Q targets with iterative load flow and check the grid-code envelope and equipment ratings.
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Renewables & grid
Data center interconnection study
Site screening, ANSI/IEEE C37 short circuit and ANDES transient stability with IT ride-through checks.
Validation and research
How Electrisim results compare with commercial tools and between engines.
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Validation
Validated against NEPLAN
University of Palermo thesis work comparing Electrisim results with commercial software.
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Validation
Open source vs PowerFactory benchmark
Open-source power flow tools benchmarked against DIgSILENT PowerFactory: results and takeaways.
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Validation
pandapower vs OpenDSS load flow
Side-by-side results: voltages, losses, and when to pick each engine.
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Validation
Offshore wind: one model, two solvers
A 450 MW offshore wind load flow run in pandapower and OpenDSS on the same ~70-bus model.
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Validation
Italian Hypergrid HVDC case study
Transmission network with HVDC links: network overview and the Electrisim model for planning studies.
Free example models
Ready-made networks to download and open in Electrisim.
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Free model
Simple network
A small starter network for your first load flow.
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Free model
IEEE test networks
IEEE 4-, 5- and 6-bus test systems for load flow and short-circuit studies.
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Free model
CIGRE MV network with DER
CIGRE medium-voltage benchmark with distributed energy resources for distribution studies.
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Free model
Multi-voltage network
Transformers across several voltage levels in one model.
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Free model
IEEE harmonics benchmark
Benchmark network for harmonic analysis practice.
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Free model
33 MW onshore wind farm
A real-size wind farm to run with pandapower or OpenDSS.
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Free model
1 GW offshore wind farm
Offshore wind farm with a 100 km export connection.
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Free model
100 MW PV plant
Solar farm model for load flow and renewable integration studies.
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Free model
Italian Hypergrid HVDC model
10-bus Italian transmission network with HVDC links.
Software comparisons
How Electrisim compares with commercial power system tools.
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Comparison
Load flow software compared
Commercial tools versus open-source pandapower, OpenDSS and ANDES: features, cost and use cases.
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Comparison
ETAP alternative
Load flow, short circuit, arc flash, OPF, harmonics and dynamics without enterprise licenses.
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Comparison
PowerFactory alternative
Load flow, short circuit, arc flash, OPF and dynamics on pandapower, OpenDSS and ANDES.
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Comparison
NEPLAN alternative
Validated against University of Palermo thesis work: load flow, short circuit and offshore wind models.
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Comparison
PSS/E alternative
Transmission studies: IEEE 118/300 benchmarks, N-1 contingency and ANDES dynamics.
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Comparison
CYME alternative
Distribution studies: OpenDSS unbalanced load flow, harmonics, Monte Carlo and DG interconnection screening.
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Comparison
EasyPower alternative
Affordable load flow, short circuit, arc flash (IEEE 1584), OPF, harmonics and dynamics.
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