Utility-Scale Solar and Storage Modeling Best Practices

Solar and storage owners must meet an increasingly large number of facility modeling requirements.  Models are essential to be able to predict the facility’s behavior during a range of system operating conditions, including both steady state and dynamic operating conditions. Facility models are required not only at different stages of the interconnection process, but also during the lifecycle of the facility’s operations.   

In this webinar, we’ll summarize the types of models that are now required by FERC/NERC and by ISOs/RTOs and transmission owners/operators. These include steady-state load flow, short-circuit, RMS dynamics, and EMT models. We’ll pay particular focus on EMT (Electromagnetic Transient) models and the conditions under which they are necessary including weak grid areas, areas with high IBR (Inverter-based Resources) penetration and/or nearby large data centers, areas close to series capacitors, etc.  We’ll discuss the development of a facility EMT model, using vendor-supplied UDM (User-Defined Models) for the inverters, and how to validate the EMT models of solar/storage facilities. 

Speakers:

• Ryan Quint, President and CEO, Elevate Energy Consulting
• Kyle Thomas, COO / VP Engineering & Compliance, Elevate Energy Consulting
• Tim Taylor, Manager of Solar and Storage Reliability Initiatives, SEIA

Original Air Date: October 21, 2026

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