minimum_timestep - Control the minimum timestep used during simulation
Synopsis
%host gridlabd -D minimum_timestep=1 %host gridlabd --define minimum_timestep=1 #set minimum_timestep=1
Description
The minimum_timestep is shortest simulation time change allowed during a simulation. By default the minimum_timestep is 1 second and for more simulation this will not cause any performance issues.
However, for certain kinds of very large simulations the result of a short minimum_timestep can be very slow progress. In such cases, an increase in the minimum_timestep can improve performance.
Caveat
There is one very important caveat that must be considered before using minimum_timestep to improve simulation performance. Increasing the minimum_timestep can cause the emergence of adverse effects such as state coherence. Under these circumstances, the state changes of object with time constants similar to the minimum_timestep can become highly coherent. This can lead to erroneous results if the diversity of state is an critical property of the aggregate simulation. Use of the minimum_timestep should only be considered after verification of whether a) state diversity is not a critical property and b) the time constants of objects are not on the order of the minimum_timestep.