Build a load profile
The load builder turns your demand evidence into a saved time profile. Choose the method from what you know, then inspect the output before using it to size equipment.
Choose the method
| Tab | Use it when | Inputs to review |
|---|---|---|
| Quick estimate | You know daily energy and an approximate hourly shape. | Daily kWh and the distribution across the day. |
| Monthly matrix | You have a representative hourly demand pattern for each month. | The month/hour cells, units and source of each value. |
| Consumer mix | You know the number and type of consumers. | Counts, monthly energy, daily shapes, seasonal factors and uncertainty settings. |
| Appliance & stochastic | Equipment and use schedules are known. | Appliance quantities, power, usage windows, facility mix, seasonal factors and seed. |
The appliance catalog includes assumptions with incomplete source records. Review those entries at the point of use. A catalog value does not become measured evidence because it appears in a saved profile.
Create and check a profile
- Open Load builder from the plant workflow. The opening view lists saved profiles.
- Start a new profile and select the appropriate tab. If you came from site assessment, check the transferred consumer counts before entering energy.
- Enter the demand assumptions. Keep the units explicit: power is kW; energy is kWh over a stated period.
- For a stochastic method, retain a positive saved seed. Reusing the same declaration and seed makes the generated profile reproducible. Changing the seed changes the realization.
- Inspect the preview. Compare daily and annual energy, monthly variation, demand peaks and the hour of the peak with your evidence.
- Save the profile. Give it a name that identifies the demand case, such as its year and operating assumption.
- Select it in the plant Design and read the resolved load back before saving a design version.
Understand the reference scale
A Phasor time profile stores dimensionless multipliers. The design also needs the demand represented by a multiplier of 1.0. Multiplying the profile by that reference gives the modeled power.
The reference can differ from the largest demand value. Do not replace it with the displayed peak just because both use kW. The builder preserves a normalization basis that reproduces the profile. Check the build’s resolved load peak and annual energy after attaching it.
Edit a saved profile
Use the profile card’s edit control. A profile with a stored synthesis declaration reopens in its original method with its inputs. Saving the edit replaces that profile; it does not silently create a new demand case. Make a separate profile when you intend to preserve both alternatives.
Existing saved plant versions retain their built inputs. Save and run a new design version to test a revised profile.
Use demand in the network
The current consumer-mix network method can use the same saved declaration and scenario settings. Each feeder or transformer is sized from its downstream consumer group. Independent percentile peaks must not be added to obtain a community peak.
A network run saves its demand snapshot. A later profile edit does not rewrite that completed run. Check the stated demand method and percentile when comparing designs. Historical runs may use RUS demand instead.
Common problems
| Problem | Check |
|---|---|
| Demand after attachment is too small | Confirm the profile reference scale, not just its peak label. |
| An annual build refuses the profile | Check coverage; a short profile is not silently extended into a measured year. |
| A repeated stochastic preview changes | Check the seed and every saved input. |
| Network demand cannot map the site | Review categories, counts and any ambiguous rows; follow the current refusal message. |
| Streetlight demand cannot be placed | The declaration does not supply network locations for those lights; resolve the location requirement. |
See Plant design for the complete workflow. Labels here describe the September 2026 development build.