Industry’s Most Advanced Modeling Platform Unveiled For Smart Grid, Alternative Energy Projects: Paladin DesignBase 4.0
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – June 14, 2011 – Power Analytics Corporation, the leader in advanced electrical power software solutions, today unveiled Paladin® DesignBase™ 4.0, the fourth generation of its power systems modeling platform for mission-critical infrastructure design. The new version adds a wide range of powerful, unique features and functions to what is already the premier modeling environment for real-time applications, including enhanced capabilities for smart grid and alternative energy infrastructure projects involving solar, wind, nuclear and other non-fossil fuel sources.
First launched in 2006, the Paladin DesignBase platform is the first power systems design environment to enable users to generate CAD models that can be re-deployed as on-line, knowledge-based systems capable of managing the reliability and energy efficiency of the finished facility. Since its introduction, Paladin DesignBase has become the most widely-used modeler for managing online operations at some of the world’s most demanding facilities, including multitrillion-dollar financial data centers, air traffic control installations, offshore oil platforms, medical facilities, and other sites with mission-critical requirements.
“Paladin DesignBase 4.0 extends the capabilities of what was already the most proven modeling platform for mission-critical facilities,” said Mark A. Ascolese, Chairman and CEO of Power Analytics. “More than $100 billion dollars of customer assets – and trillions of dollars of financial data center transactions annually – are entrusted to the Paladin family of products; it truly is the only software platform to ensure lifecycle-long power system reliability and energy efficiency for demanding customer environments.”
New Features and Functions
The Paladin DesignBase family consists of more than 40 tightly-integrated programs for the complete range of design, simulation, and optimization tasks to ensure power systems infrastructure is “Perfect on Paper” before it is constructed. In version 4.0, Power Analytics adds several industry-leading new capabilities in exciting areas, including:
1. The most comprehensive modeling tools for projects incorporating alternative energy components like photovoltaic (PV), wind, co-generation, and other sources… developed by virtue of leading-edge customer projects with UC San Diego (April 13, 2010 announcement) as well as the Department of Energy and Boeing (November 18, 2010 announcement). Much of the intellectual property developed as part of those efforts, especially in photovoltaic, has been productized into Paladin DesignBase 4.0, giving the software modeling and simulation capabilities that far exceed what is available in other commercial packages.
2. The ability to create complex power network models of virtually unlimited size, removing the caps (e.g., a 12,000 bus limit) of competitive modeling platforms. DesignBase models are logically associated over multiple drawings but all are interconnected so analysis programs work across them regardless of size.
3. Sweeping, user-suggested enhancements to the Paladin DesignBase Protective Device Coordination (PDC) and Harmonics programs… as well as enhanced catalog, library, and reporting capabilities.
A detailed video demonstration of these and other capabilities can be viewed at www.PowerAnalytics.com/demos.
Extending the Paladin Solution
Paladin DesignBase 4.0 builds on its preceding versions by further increasing the sophistication of projects that can be undertaken, as well as power sources supporting them. Because models created using Paladin DesignBase contain the detailed design data required for on-line use, they provide users with three unprecedented benefits:
• Working in conjunction with Paladin® Live™, Paladin DesignBase models are able to detect emerging power problems and energy inefficiencies at the “anomaly stage,” the point at which an individual component begins to deviate from its normal operating specifications, typically long before alarm levels are reached or inefficiencies can set in. Because specifications are already codified within the design model, programming (setting alarm limits, operating thresholds, etc.) is virtually eliminated, a substantial time and cost savings.
• Because the Paladin platform enables power systems to be managed exactly like a computer network, operations managers are able to detect, diagnose, and preempt power problems in facilities anywhere in the world; similarly, mission-critical design firms using Paladin DesignBase can realize substantial new revenue streams, remotely monitoring their client facilities as part of an on-going, post-design service.
• In environments utilizing multiple power sources – e.g., utility power, supplemented locally-generated power from alternative energy sources – the Paladin DesignBase model works in conjunction with Paladin® SmartGrid™, to dynamically serve as a “master controller” for the real-time consumption, cost, and reliability of each source… even laying the foundation for selling excess privately-generated power back to the public grid. The intelligence within the Paladin DesignBase model contains all of the performance specifications required to ensure that operating parameters are adhered to, while minimizing energy use.
The Fastest Possible Downloads
In another improvement to the Company’s software distribution strategy, Power Analytics said that Paladin DesignBase 4.0 will be its first version downloadable from the web services arm of Amazon.com, the high-performance cloud that provides worldwide content distribution for bandwidth-intensive users such as Amazon.com, Ericsson, Netflix, Urban Spoon, Virgin Atlantic, and others.
Pricing and Availability
Paladin DesignBase 4.0 is available immediately, and a free, 14-day trial is downloadable at www.PowerAnalytics.com/designbase. On average, Paladin DesignBase is priced significantly lower than comparably-configured competitive offerings; prices starting at $2995 for the base package, which includes the core modeling environment, bundled with programs for arc flash, short circuit, and power flow protective device coordination (PDC). Power Analytics also offers customers the widest range of pricing and licensing terms, including provisions for project-based pricing and leasing options.
For a limited time, Power Analytics is offering a one-time purchase program for users of competing power systems modelers, under which qualified buyers can switch to Paladin DesignBase 4.0 at the same price they would pay in annual maintenance for their existing software… in some cases, an 80% savings over list price. (See related announcement.) Interested users of other software platforms should contact Power Analytics for details.
About Power Analytics Corporation
Power Analytics is a privately held developer of software solutions for the design, simulation, deployment, and preventative maintenance of complex electrical power systems. Founded in 1983, the Company’s Paladin software products are used by thousands of commercial, industrial, governmental, and military customers worldwide, to protect more than $100 billion in customer assets. Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., the Company’s worldwide operations include more than 30 sales, distribution, and support offices located throughout North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. For more information about Power Analytics and its products, visit www.PowerAnalytics.com.