Energy System Builder (ESB)
Energy Source Mix
Last Updated: August 13, 2026On the Inputs form, you can list multiple energy sources and assign each a target percentage of daily demand—e.g., Solar 80% / Wind 20%, or Solar 120% to intentionally oversize and export surplus. The array size and wind turbine count are calculated based on whatever percentage you assign, rather than defaulting to 100%. Anything left…
Dispatch Priority
Last Updated: August 13, 2026Each source has a Priority number (lower = used first) – set it on the Inputs form and the Dashboard’s Energy Source Mix table reorders to match. This documents your intended order of operations (e.g. Solar and Wind before Grid); the tool doesn’t run an hour-by-hour dispatch simulation, so treat this as planning guidance rather…
Backup Generator
Last Updated: August 13, 2026Separate from the day-to-day source mix – a generator is standby power for when the grid is down (a hurricane outage, for example). Pick a unit and a desired backup runtime on the Inputs form; the Dashboard checks whether its continuous rating covers your sized peak load and estimates fuel burn for that runtime window…
Array Sizing Basis
Last Updated: August 13, 2026By default the array is sized to your location’s annual average Peak Sun Hours – cheaper, but any below-average month (usually winter) can run a generation deficit even though the year nets out fine. Switch this to “Worst Month” on the Inputs form to size the array against your single lowest-sun month instead, guaranteeing every…
Depth of Discharge (DoD)
Last Updated: August 13, 2026How much of the battery’s capacity you’re allowed to use. Lead-acid batteries are usually limited to ~50% for longevity; LiFePO4 batteries can typically go to 80-100%. Set this to match your selected battery – leaving it at a stale default is the most common source of an oversized (or undersized) battery bank.
Max Parallel Units
Last Updated: August 13, 2026Manufacturers cap how many battery units can be wired in parallel due to busbar current limits and BMS balancing – it’s a real electrical limit, not a suggestion. If your design exceeds it, the Dashboard tells you how many independent battery banks to split into.
Controllers Needed
Last Updated: August 13, 2026A single charge controller has both a maximum amp rating and a maximum PV wattage rating. This tool checks both and tells you how many controllers – and how to split your panels between them – you actually need.
Multi-Tenant Architecture
Last Updated: August 13, 2026The Energy System Builder (ESB) supports a secure Multi-Tenant Architecture. This enables engineering firms, solar installation companies, non-profit chapters, and educational institutions to manage projects under a single organizational umbrella while maintaining strict access controls. In ESB, accounts are structured hierarchically into Organizations (Parent Accounts) and Members (Child Accounts):
Real Estate, Systems, and Projects
Last Updated: August 13, 2026Real Estate is the fixed physical property – its address and assigned Contact live here, and stay here even if the System built on it changes. A System is the infrastructure itself – a permanent (or semi-permanent) solar/battery/wind design assigned to a Real Estate, with its own name and engineering inputs. More than one System…
Micro-grids
Last Updated: August 13, 2026A Microgrid is a named rollup of your existing systems – useful for reporting on several independent sites as one portfolio (e.g. “all of our community’s cabins combined”). Create one, then use “Manage Systems” to check which of your systems belong to it. Systems are completely unaffected by this – they keep their own hardware…
Project Management
Last Updated: August 13, 2026The Projects page tracks work performed on your Systems. Each project picks a target System, has start/expected-completion/end dates, a manager’s name/email/phone, a status (Backlog, In Progress, Completed), and its own checklist of Actions and list of Materials (with quantity and unit cost, rolled up into a materials subtotal). Filter the list by status, System, manager,…
Contacts
Last Updated: August 13, 2026The Contacts page is a searchable registry of people you work with – owners, decision-makers, tenants. A Contact is its own independent record (available to every account tier) and can be assigned to one or more Systems from a System’s edit panel on the Systems page. Deleting a Contact doesn’t delete the Systems it was…
Managing presets
Last Updated: August 13, 2026The Presets page lists every solar panel, charge controller, battery, wind turbine, backup generator, and location available to select from. Gray “Global” entries are shared with everyone; blue “Custom” entries are ones you’ve added yourself and only you can see or delete them. Add your own equipment there before selecting it on the Inputs form.