Battery Inputs Explained
This section tells GridGap what one battery actually is. If the battery inputs are loose or unrealistic, the rest of the result starts leaning the wrong way even when the appliance list is decent.
What the battery section does
The appliance list describes the demand. The battery section describes the storage that has to carry that demand when solar or grid support is not doing the work.
In Simple mode, you only see the essentials. Technical mode opens more battery controls, but that doesn't mean every field needs changing.
Battery size, Capacity mode, and Voltage
Start with the battery size. What that number means depends on the Capacity mode.
If Capacity mode is set to kWh, you are entering the energy content of one battery unit directly. This is common with many modern lithium products that are sold and compared in energy terms.
If Capacity mode is set to Ah, you are entering charge capacity instead. In that case, Voltage matters straight away because amp-hours on their own do not tell the app how much energy one battery really holds.
Voltage is the nominal voltage of one battery unit, such as 12 V, 24 V, or 48 V. This is not the final bank voltage. It is the building block voltage that GridGap uses later when checking whether the battery arrangement can match the chosen AC inverter system voltage or DC main bus path.
A battery can look fine on its own and still be awkward in the wider system if its unit voltage does not combine neatly into the system voltage you are aiming for.
Chemistry and DoD
Chemistry changes the battery profile behind the scenes. It is not just a label for your own reference.
DoD (%) is the allowed depth of discharge. This is one of the most important fields in the editor because it tells GridGap how much of the nominal battery capacity you are prepared to use in practice.
Lower DoD is more conservative. It usually means a larger bank recommendation for the same usable energy. Higher DoD can shrink the required bank on paper because you are allowing more of each battery to be used.
If you do not know the exact battery yet, rough guide values are fine as a starting point. Replace them with manufacturer data once a real battery has been chosen.
Technical battery controls
In Technical mode, GridGap exposes more of the battery model. Temperature oversizing factor lets you increase required battery storage for colder conditions. Batteries stored in lower average minimum temperatures may need extra sizing margin, which is why this field is expressed as a multiplier rather than a simple yes-or-no option.
Enable Peukert correction is mainly there for lead-acid style batteries where higher discharge rates can reduce usable capacity. It is usually not needed for lithium systems.
If Peukert correction is enabled, two more fields matter: Peukert exponent and Rated hour capacity. The exponent describes how strongly usable capacity falls at higher discharge current. Rated hour capacity tells the app the discharge rating behind the advertised Ah figure, such as a C20 rating.
Discharge current mode lets you choose between Calculated and Manual. In most cases, Calculated is the sensible choice. It allows GridGap to estimate discharge current from the scenario itself. Manual is there for situations where you already know the current you want the battery model to use.
If you switch to manual mode, the page shows Manual discharge current (A). This is an override field, not a normal starting point. It is best used when you have a good reason to depart from the calculated current rather than when you are still exploring a scenario.
Battery Current Limits
The Battery Current Limits section appears in Technical mode. It begins with Use Default Battery Current Limits. If this stays on, GridGap uses the charge and discharge limits tied to the chosen chemistry profile.
If you turn that option off, the form shows Max Charge Current (A) and Max Discharge Current (A). These are manual overrides for the battery profile defaults.
Total stored energy is only part of the story. A battery can look large enough in kWh terms and still be a poor fit if it cannot safely charge or discharge at the currents the scenario demands.
Installation and planning fields
If you enable Installation & Protection, the battery part of the form expands beyond core sizing and into planning inputs. These fields cover practical installation context such as cable runs, cable material, cable type, voltage-drop allowance, installation environment, protection preferences, and isolation details.
They are useful when you want a fuller planning view, but they do not turn GridGap into a final design tool. Size the battery first, then use the installation layer to check whether that battery still looks practical once routing, protection, and environment are taken into account.