Four Corners

Four Corners is the branch of GridLAB-D that led to the release of Version 2.2 in September 2011. It is considered the definitive Version 2 release and supports the SGIG analysis. It includes the following:


 * Added generator_controller to market module to allow generators to bid into a wholesale/retail market, including fixed rates, fuel costs, and start up and shut down costs. Tested but not validated.
 * Added a limited emissions support to powerflow module, which attempts to estimate the generated emissions of a feeder by giving it a predefined dispatch order and capacity limit. Limited capabilities are tested but not validated.
 * Added optional parasitic power draws and multiple billing strategies (fixed, tiered, time of use, and real time) to meter and triplex_meter classes. Additionally, a billdump class was added to collect all customer bills into a single file at the end of each simulated month.
 * Diesel distributed generation model was enhanced to include fuel costs/usage, efficiencies, and heat transfer rates. This is in preparation for future CHP models.
 * Added a current and voltage “dump” feature in powerflow that allows the user to specify a time, then all current or voltage measurements are dumped to a single output file.
 * Updated troubleshooting documentation. Now is fully linked on Sourceforge site to internal troubleshooting code.
 * Added a stub bidder object to the market module to allow users to create a “fake” bidder, with enhanced flexibility on the bidding rules.
 * Market module, including auction, controller, and passive controller updated, with major bugs removed. Module is tested and validated to the extent that it is used for SGIG analysis for US DOE ARRA projects.
 * The solar panel and inverter models were “cleaned up” for analysis.  Test and partially validation.
 * A thermal energy storage model added to residential module. Similar to Ice Bear technology, it converts electricity to ice, which is then used to cool the house object during peak load periods.  Validated against available data.
 * Multiple economic elasticity models were added to the market module, including daily and substitution values. Only linear 2- and 3-tier TOU and TOU/CPP models have been validated.  A non-linear version has been included but it is not fully validated.
 * Direct load control and demand response capabilities have been added to the market module. These include controls for HVAC cycling, water heater cycling and shutoff, and pool pump cycling and shutoff.  These models have been validated to the extent they were used for analysis, but have not been fully tested.
 * A duty cycle mode was added to the zipload class in the residential module. Originally intended to represent pool pump cycling, it can also be used to represent anything with a simple duty cycle.
 * The Newton-Raphson (NR) powerflow solver method was “cleaned up” to increase performance. Additionally, code was added to assist in replacing the SuperLU solver with external solvers, such as the KLU solver, resulting in additional performance enhancement.  However, due the licensing restrictions, only the capability to include KLU is provided, not KLU itself.  (The external KLU solver can be downloaded from a separate folder on SourceForge.)
 * Extended the capabilities of the reliability module to support more classes, such as fuses and switches, and provide IEEE 1366 metrics assessment.
 * Initial enhancements were made to include detailed short circuit analysis. These capabilities are still in the testing and development phase.
 * Added scripts compatible with version 2.2 and the taxonomy feeders have been added to the open source repository. These Matlab based scripts were used to convert standard utility feeder models to models fully populated with residential and commercial buildings and loads representative of different regions within the United States in support of the 2011 SGIG analysis of US DOE ARRA projects.

= See also =


 * History
 * Version
 * History
 * Version