When To Use Calculate Vs Create New Version

GridGap is version-aware. That means the choice is not only about calculation. It is also about whether you are updating the current version or branching into a new one.

What Calculate does

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

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.

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 now gives you a few ways to do that. You can create a New Empty Version, Clone This Version, or Change Scenario Type and carry across the parts you still want.

When to choose each one

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.

A good practical question is this. If the next option works out well, do you still want easy access to the older version exactly as it was? If the answer is yes, branch into a new version. If the answer is 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 from a battery-only plan to a solar hybrid, 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 and may only want to carry the master appliance list forward.

Choose Clone This Version when the current version is already close to the next option and you want to keep almost everything as the starting point.

Choose Change Scenario Type when you want to move between battery-only and solar-hybrid paths without losing the current version.