Wiki

Energy Routing

Power flows through a DC Bus model. Lab and grid both draw from inverter AC output, not raw generation.

Power in (generator + charge controller)

  1. Power is generated by source (Human Power, Solar, Wind, Hydro, Ocean, Geothermal).
  2. Generation is reduced by the source’s charge controller efficiency. Human Power is exempt and connects directly to the DC Bus.
  3. The generation sum becomes available to the DC Bus.
  4. Power that cannot be consumed in real time on the DC Bus is clipped (wasted).

A generator unit’s contribution before the controller is tier output × condition × site variance. Weather and storm multipliers then apply.

Storage (battery)

The Battery Bank is the DC Bus buffer and the lowest priority for both supply and consumption.

  1. DC Bus power not consumed by other means (primarily the inverter) charges the battery up to capacity and DoD limits.
  2. DC Bus demand not met by generation charges down from the battery to its discharge limit.
  3. Battery efficiency applies to both charge and discharge: it slows charge rate per unit consumed and raises discharge draw per unit requested.

Power out (inverter)

  1. The inverter is the primary means of removing power from the DC Bus.
  2. Inverter research tier sets maximum AC output capacity.
  3. Inverter efficiency increases DC draw per unit of AC output.
  4. The inverter always attempts rated AC output. If insufficient DC energy is available, it curtails AC output to match available DC (still factoring efficiency).

Power consumption (base load + grid + lab)

  1. Base load consumes first from inverter output.
  2. Remaining inverter output is available to grid and lab.
  3. The Power Allocation Slider sets the percentage split between grid and lab, but the lab only draws power while at least one research project is active. With none active, the lab’s would-be share diverts to the grid instead (sold, when the inverter is exporting) rather than being lost.

Grid kWh earns Energy Credits with Time-of-Use and the Reset Multiplier.

Power flow UI

Left-to-right in the bottom status bar: Generation Total, Battery Input, Battery Stored (kWh of kWh Total, 1 decimal place), Battery Output, Inverter Output, then a fork to Grid Power (top) and Lab Power (bottom). Auto-scaling major units every 1,000. Icons for Generation, Battery, Inverter, Grid, and Lab are spaced with conduit lines. Marching-ant flow pips indicate flow speed, scaled to fractional inverter capacity at max speed.

See also