When To Use Calculate Vs Create New Version

Use Calculate when this version should change. Use Create New Version when the current version is worth keeping and you want to branch.

What Calculate does

Calculate recalculates the version you are currently editing and replaces only that version's stored results.

Before the calculation runs, GridGap saves pending scenario settings, solar inputs where relevant, installation inputs where relevant, and usage changes. If those edits cannot be saved, the calculation stops so the issue can be fixed first.

This is the right choice when you are still refining the same version and you want that version to reflect your latest changes. It is the normal action while you are still settling load assumptions, battery settings, charging assumptions, or solar inputs within one version.

When the calculation completes, GridGap opens the results page for that project version.

What Create New Version does

Create New Version preserves the current version and opens a new version for you to work in. It does not calculate the new version automatically.

This is the right choice when the current version is worth preserving and you want to branch into a changed option rather than overwrite the one you already trust or want to compare later.

The app gives you three ways to do that. You can create a New Empty Version, use Clone This Version, or choose Change Scenario Type. The method you choose controls how much of the current version is carried into the new one.

The deciding question

Use Calculate when you are still working on the same idea. Use Create New Version when you have moved into a different option that deserves to be kept as its own saved comparison.

Ask this before you click anything: if the next option works out well, do you still want the older version exactly as it is? If yes, branch. If no, update the current version in place.

Common real-world examples

Use Calculate if you simply corrected a load, changed a duty cycle, adjusted a battery chemistry choice, or updated a voltage assumption within the same version.

Use Create New Version if you are moving between AC, DC, and mixed AC/DC scenario paths, adding or removing solar, changing from one battery-bank strategy to another, or creating a more conservative and a less conservative option that you want to compare side by side later.

Another good use of Create New Version is after you finally get a version to a place you trust. That trusted version becomes a stable reference point, and you can explore new ideas without losing it.

How to think about the three creation methods

Choose New Empty Version when you want a fresh start. This is the cleanest option when the next version should not inherit the current scenario settings. You may still carry the master appliance list if it remains useful.

Choose Clone This Version when the current version is already close to the next option and you want the new version to start from the current scenario state.

Choose Change Scenario Type when the comparison is mainly about a different scenario path. You choose the target scenario type, then decide which compatible parts should carry forward.

Carry options depend on the source and target scenario types. GridGap may offer battery inputs, inverter and AC charging inputs, DC distribution and DC charging inputs, solar inputs where both paths use solar, installation and protection inputs, and relevant appliance lists. If a part does not fit the new scenario type, do not force it across.