How To Create An AC Battery + Inverter Scenario
Pick this scenario when you want to answer the battery question on its own. Solar is not helping during the period you are modelling, so the result shows what the battery, inverter, and charging side have to do by themselves.
When to use this scenario
This is a good fit for AC outage backup, overnight AC battery planning, RV or boat systems with AC loads, and base versions you plan to compare against later.
It is often the cleanest place to start because the question is simpler. Can the battery and inverter carry the required loads at all. Once that answer looks sensible, adding solar later is easier to interpret.
Set up the scenario
In the Scenario editor, make sure the version appliance list has already been created. If you are new to the app, the guided route is usually the easiest place to begin. Choose AC - Battery + Inverter, let the page create the load groups, enter the worst-case usage hours, and then use Continue to Scenario Settings. GridGap will show that the scenario is ready before opening the starting settings.
If you already know the inputs you want to enter yourself, use Start with blank scenario settings instead. Choose AC - Battery + Inverter in the blank scenario modal to open the same AC scenario path without guided starting defaults.
This scenario does not use the solar section of the editor. It is also not the right path for DC loads. If the version contains DC appliances as well as AC appliances, choose a mixed AC/DC scenario instead.
Core fields
Start with the main battery and inverter relationship. Check the battery entry method, battery size, battery voltage, and Inverter / system voltage first.
Then review the fields that shape the practical result: Battery chemistry, Inverter efficiency (%), Grid charge hours, and DoD (%). If you expect to recharge from utility supply later, or from shore power in an RV or boat context, the available charge hours still matter because they affect the charging result.
Technical users may also work with fields such as Charger efficiency (%), Inverter headroom factor, Peukert controls, manual discharge-current controls, and default battery current limit overrides. These are worth using only when you understand why the default behaviour is not enough for the case you are modelling.
Simple and Technical mode
Simple mode is the guided starting point. It keeps the workflow easier to follow and hides many of the advanced controls.
Technical mode reveals more detailed battery and inverter assumptions. That is helpful when you know the battery behaviour more precisely, or when you need to test how more conservative or more aggressive assumptions affect the outcome.
If your first version is mainly for orientation, start simple. You can always create a later version and compare it against a more technical setup.
Loads and usage
Add only the loads the battery-backed inverter is expected to supply. For outage planning that often means essential loads rather than every load in the building. For RV and boat use it may include fridges, pumps, chargers, lights, navigation or communications equipment, and small appliance loads.
Once the scenario exists, go through the scenario usage rows and check Hours used and Include in scenario carefully. A AC battery scenario becomes unrealistic very quickly if the usage hours are too generous for heavy loads.
Installation & Protection
If you switch on Installation & Protection, the editor reveals more planning fields for cable runs, environments, and protection preferences.
These fields are optional. They are there to support the later installation guidance output. They are not required if your main aim is to get the battery, inverter, and charging calculations first.
Calculate and review
After calculation, start with Overview, then move to the Battery, Inverter, Charging, and Warnings tabs.
This scenario often works best as the baseline version in a project. Once it looks realistic, create an AC solar version from it and compare how solar changes the battery pressure, recharge burden, and wider system size.