Components¶
Every element you can place from the palette, with its OpenDSS parameters. Placement is sticky — click a palette item (or press its shortcut letter), then click the canvas repeatedly to drop several; press Esc to stop. Symbols are ANSI one-line style, and every element can be rotated with R.
Parameters are edited in the properties panel (select the element) or in bulk on the Elements spreadsheet. Anything not listed here is left at its OpenDSS default.
Source — S¶
An OpenDSS Vsource; the first one placed defines the circuit. Every circuit
needs at least one.
| Parameter | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Base kV (LL) | Line-to-line source voltage |
| Voltage (pu) | Per-unit setpoint |
| Angle (°) | Reference angle |
| Phases | 1 / 2 / 3 |
| 3φ / 1φ short-circuit (MVA) | Thévenin strength (mvasc3, mvasc1) — drives fault-study results |
Busbar — B¶
A stretchable bus with connection handles along its top and bottom edges. Drag horizontally while placing to set its width; drag the end grips later to resize (connections re-home automatically if the bar shrinks). The declared base kV is used for validation and voltage-base calculation.
Busbars are optional: wiring elements directly together creates an implicit
junction bus. Name a busbar and that name is used in solves and .dss
exports.
Transformer — T¶
Two-winding, with a per-winding editor:
| Parameter | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Phases | 1 or 3 |
| X(H-L) (%) | Leakage reactance between windings |
| Load loss (%) | Winding losses at rated load |
| Per winding: kV, kVA, wye/delta | Ratings and connection for each side |
Breaker / switch — K¶
Emitted as a zero-impedance OpenDSS switch. Double-click (or right-click) to open/close it; an open breaker de-energizes everything downstream.
| Parameter | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Closed | Switch state |
| Rating (A) | normamps, used for the loading overlay |
| Phases | 1 / 2 / 3 |
Load — L¶
| Parameter | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Rated kV | Line-to-line for 3φ/wye conventions per OpenDSS |
| Power (kW) | Rated demand at multiplier 1.0 |
| Power factor | Positive = lagging |
| Phases, Connection | 1/2/3, wye/delta |
| Load model | OpenDSS models 1–5 (1 = constant P/Q) |
| Loadshape | A load shape that scales the load over time-series runs |
In a snapshot solve, loads draw their full rated kW; the loadshape applies only to time-series runs.
Capacitor — C¶
Shunt capacitor bank: rated kV, size (kvar), phases, wye/delta, and number of switched steps.
Generator — G¶
| Parameter | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Rated kV, Output (kW), Power factor | Machine ratings |
| Mode | 1 = constant kW/pf; 3 = PV mode (holds a voltage setpoint) |
| V setpoint (pu) | Held voltage in mode 3 |
PV system — P¶
An OpenDSS PVSystem: panel + inverter, with built-in inverter efficiency
and power–temperature curves.
| Parameter | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Rated kV | Interconnection voltage |
| Inverter rating (kVA) | Caps output |
| Panel Pmpp (kW) | Array rating at 1 kW/m² and 25 °C |
| Power factor | Inverter pf |
| Irradiance (pu) | Base irradiance in kW/m²; output ≈ Pmpp × irradiance × efficiency |
| Irradiance shape | An irradiance shape that scales the base irradiance over time-series runs |
In a snapshot solve, the PV system produces at its base irradiance (the shape is not applied). Fetch real regional irradiance from the NSRDB in the Shapes tab.
Storage — A¶
An OpenDSS Storage element (battery).
| Parameter | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Power rating (kW), Energy rating (kWh) | Inverter and pack ratings |
| Initial charge (%) | State of charge at the start of a run |
| Reserve (%) | SOC floor the dispatch will not discharge below |
| Charge / discharge eff. (%) | One-way efficiencies |
| Dispatch mode | follow or default (below) |
| Dispatch shape | Shape driving follow mode |
| Charge / discharge trigger | Thresholds for default mode |
Dispatch modes:
- follow — the assigned shape drives the battery directly each step: positive multiplier = discharge (× kW rating), negative = charge. This is the primary mode; hand-craft a dispatch curve in the Shapes tab, or reuse a load shape.
- default — OpenDSS's built-in triggered dispatch, where the triggers
compare against the circuit's default loadshape multiplier. Documented as
advanced; prefer
follow.
Storage only acts during time-series runs; in a snapshot it idles. Storage elements are excluded from fault studies (a crash in the underlying DSS engine — their fault contribution is negligible anyway).
Wires vs. Lines¶
Dragging between two terminals creates a connection whose kind follows the Wire / Line mode buttons (W / E):
- Wire — an ideal connection; the two terminals become the same OpenDSS bus (merged via union-find under the hood).
- Line — a real OpenDSS
Lineelement: length + units, sequence impedances (R1/X1/R0/X0 per unit length), ampacity, phases. Conductor parameters can be stamped from an editable preset library (config/linecodes.csv) or entered directly.
Picking a connect mode exits placement mode, so the next connection is always the kind you chose. While a placement mode is active, connections default to plain wires (you're dropping components and hooking them up as you go). Illegal connections — busbar-to-busbar wires, self-connections, duplicates — are refused with an explanation. Double-click any wire or line to add a draggable routing point; double-click a point to remove it.
Spreadsheet view¶
The Elements tab lists every element type in an editable table — one sub-tab per type, including PV systems and storage. Edit values in bulk with an Excel-style fill-down handle; loadshape columns are dropdowns into the shape library. Click ⌖ to locate any element on the diagram. After a solve, a read-only bus-results table appears alongside.
Editor quality of life¶
Undo/redo (Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y), copy/paste/duplicate (Ctrl+C / Ctrl+V / Ctrl+D), delete, rotation (R), grid snapping, pan/zoom with minimap, box-select and group-move, right-click context menus, and result tooltips throughout. Your work autosaves to the browser between sessions.