Design a generation plant
Use this workflow to design a hybrid supply system with solar PV, battery storage, diesel generation, micro-hydro or a grid connection. Start with demand and resource evidence. Then compare equipment sizes and operating results.
Build compatibility
These guides describe the development workflow inspected on 10 September 2026. Check the download release notes before following them in an older build. The screenshots show the development application, not a claim that every release has these controls.
Before you start
Prepare the site coordinates and time zone, the demand data, resource data or a weather source, and the equipment and cost assumptions you can defend. Record where each input came from. An estimate is usable when it is identified as an estimate.
Create a project with Energy plant design selected and save it as a .phasor file. Open the plant overview. Its progress line reads Location, Load, Network, Weather, Design and Simulate. Network is optional for a plant-only study.
Build the first design
- Set the location. Use the site map or enter known coordinates. Check the time zone. Follow Site assessment if you also need mapped structures and customer counts.
- Build the demand. Open Load builder. Choose the method that matches your evidence, save the profile, and read its energy, peak and normalization basis. Follow Load builder.
- Prepare the resource year. Open Weather in the plant workbench. Fetch NASA POWER data or import a weather file. Check that the design selects the required whole-year channels. Follow Weather.
- Configure equipment. Open Design. Select Canvas or Form; both edit the same draft. Enable the required components. For solar, battery and diesel, choose automatic sizing, a fixed capacity or a search range.
- Check costs and limits. Read the build notes. Supply missing decisions and inspect assumed defaults. Check battery capacity in kWh separately from converter and generator power in kW.
- Simulate a saved version. Leave Search for a cheaper size off for the first baseline. The simulation action saves a changed draft as a new version before it runs. Read Plant simulation.
- Compare alternatives. Use Sizing for a controlled search, then Sensitivity and the Financial model. Add Network design when you need the distribution system.
Confirm the result belongs to your design
Check the design name, version and run identifier before reading a result. A new draft does not change an old run. If the result is for a different version, select the intended completed run.
Read unmet demand and other feasibility findings before the cost headline. A low modeled cost does not establish an acceptable supply system.
When the workflow stops
| Condition | Next action |
|---|---|
| No load profile or no reference scale | Save a profile and select it; confirm what a multiplier of 1.0 represents. |
| Required weather is absent or unused | Check the selected channels, sample interval and full-year coverage. |
| “Before you can save” names an input | Correct that input in the draft, then read the build notes again. |
| Search finds no feasible design | Inspect the binding constraint before changing the search range or equipment choice. |
| Finance has nothing to cost | Save the project and a design version; select the intended design/version. |
Scope of the model
The plant simulator resolves hourly energy balance over 8,760 hours. It does not replace network load flow, transient analysis, civil design or thermal-cycle engineering. Wind is not an available end-to-end design option in the inspected workflow. Use Plant to network to understand the electrical handoff.