Commercialization

GridLAB-D was originally conceived as a standalone analytic tool. DOE has never planned to develop a user interface for any particular platform, although at least three have been developed during the past four years. None of these have been officially released, but two of the three are available in the source code.

Originally four use cases were anticipated for GridLAB-D, each of which is likely to require a separate or at least a clearly delineated user-interface.


 * Policy and Analysis : The first is the use case we currently engage in, which involves policy research and technology analysis of Smart Grid applications. Users of this kind of tool evaluate the potential of technologies and refine their design and deployment with an eye toward identifying synergies and conflicts.  The tools are used to predict and evaluate the performance as the technology penetrates the market, and extrapolate the impacts on a regional or national scale.
 * Engineering Planning : The second use case focuses more on the planning and engineering of Smart Grid systems from the perspective of a utility. In this case, existing systems are modeled in detail and the engineering team uses GridLAB-D to study the technologies and controls needed to achieve certain engineering objectives.
 * Engineering Operations : The third use case focuses on the operations of Smart Grid systems, wherein an existing system model is maintained, and operations engineers use GridLAB-D to predict the near-term evolution of their system given various options they confront in day-to-day operations, management and control.
 * Business Analysis : The final use case addresses the business operations. These users engage of post facto analysis of Smart Grid technology for the purpose of assessing performance and implementing business strategies to achieve business and regulatory objectives and optimize outcomes.

For more information about commercialization, please contact the [mailto:gridlabd@pnnl.gov?subject=GridLAB-D%20Commercialization GridLAB-D Commercialization Team at PNNL]