How to migrate a V2 project to V3?

This tutorial will guide you in migrating projects from V2 to V3.

V3 introduces the new SENSE engine by the Sympheny team, enhancing data processing and enabling faster solving for more complex planning scenarios.

When migrating from V2 to V3, you will only have to actively review your model if you are using one of these features:

Rated capacity for technologies based on on-site resources: refer to step 5 of this document.
Battery storage for EV mobility: refer to step 7 of this document.
API users: most of the APIs remained unchanged, please check the API listing here for specific V3 APIs: Specific to V3 API listing

Here are a list features that are currently not available, but will be deployed in the upcoming V3 releases:
(last update 2024.07.02)

Battery storage for EV mobility: refer to step 7 for work-around.
Database center: this is only working with scenarios in V2. Once it is ready for V3, we will also provide migration guide to use V2 databases in V3.

Migrate project

Migrating projects from V2 to V3 is easy!

Video Tutorial

Go to the projects navigator page, and click on the three dots icon
From the drop down list, click “Migrate project“
Optional (but recommended) - Click “Copy project before migration“ to save a V2 copy for later reference
From the pop-up window, click “Migrate“
The migrated project in Sympheny V3 is now available on the project page

From the project navigator, click “Migrate project“

Review the models

Along with the upgrade to the SENSE engine, we have updated some modelling conventions, with the aim to provide a cohesive modelling framework and more flexibilities in the future.

In case for the migrated projects, all of the boundary conditions are retained (Steps 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6), we recommend the user to review the models in Steps 5 and 7.

General (Step 1)

Stages

The introduction of stages within V3 is one of the key feature, as it allows users to model multiple stage models. The stage feature has an influence on the calculation of the financial objective, when considering multi-stages.

Note: When migrating from V2 to V3, a stage is generated with a length equal to the maximum lifetime of the technologies in V2. Consequently, this should not affect the results.

On-site Resources (Step 5)

V2: Rated vs. Nominal Capacity

In V2, users specify whether the technologies connected to on-site resources (with hourly resource availability profiles), are designed with rated or nominal capacities.

In the case of rated capacity, the kWp of the technologies is calculated based on standard values (e.g., 1kW/m2 for the case of PV). The kWp value is the one relevant for the technology sizing and investment costs.

In the case of the nominal capacity, the maximum output capacity in kW that could be achieved according to the hourly profile is used to determine the sizing of the technology, relevant for the costs.

Example: Solar Panels

Imagine you install 250 kWp of solar panels on a roof (rated capacity based on standard conditions). However, the location's maximum irradiation reaches 1.1 kW/m². Therefore, the 250 kWp system can potentially output 275 kW whenever irradiation reaches 1.1 kW/m².

V3: Peak Power Parameter

In V3, the nominal or rated consideration is not specified at the on-site resources step, but directly linked to the conversion technology candidates. In the technical parameters, you can specify the Peak Power parameter, in order to set your preferred sizing principle. This streamlined approach for defining renewable technology capacity allows users to select the method that best suits your requirements, while connecting the same on-site resources across multiple technologies.

Nominal capacity: Set the Peak Power parameter to 1 kW_max/ kW. This means the PV panels sizing is the peak power of the panels, and the investment cost is calculated base on this value.
Rated capacity: Set the Peak Power parameter to max(Irradiation Profile) / standard value kW. This means for the 250 kWp installation example, that the Peak Power needs to be 1.1/1 = 1.1. This mean that to produce the 1.1 kW/m2, ‘only’ 1 kWp will need to be installed and paid for.

Tip: You can find the max value of the profile by viewing the profile in the on-site resource step.

Peak Power is set to *1 kW_max/ kW* for technology sizing with the Nominal capacity.

Exports (Step 6)

This section explains how export pricing works differently in V2 and V3. Understanding these changes are important for a smooth migration from V2 to V3.

V2: In the older version, Capacity Sale Price, in $/kW/year or $/kW/month, is simply considered a cost.
V3: The new version offers more flexibility. Prices for both Import and Export Candidates can be positive or negative, indicating either a cost incurred or revenue generated.

Key adjustment after migration:

For Export Candidates in V3, positive values indicate revenue earned, while negative values indicate cost incurred.

Therefore, during the migration from V2 to V3, Capacity Prices for Export Candidates are adjusted to negative values to maintain consistency with V2, in which the parameters represent costs.

Supply Technologies (Step 7)

Technology Modes

The Technology Modes are undergoing a consequent change in the modelling conventions. In V3, the output efficiencies are calculated based on the total input energy, while in V2, it’s only based on the primary input. There is no more setting on “primary input” in V3.

This changes allow users to have a better overview of the energy dissipation in their systems. Indeed, the sum of the output efficiencies directly give an idea on the total efficiency: if it amounts to 100%, one can derive that no energy is lost in the system. In V2, 100% output efficiency did not mean that no energy was lost, as it was only referring to the primary input. This is particularly relevant mutli-input technologies, as for heat pump COP modelling, see example below.

This allows separating the behaviors related to input shares from those related to efficiencies. For instance, in Example 1 (see below), where a heat pump with a COP of 3 is defined. In V2, the COP information had to be entered in both input shares and output efficiencies. However, in V3, the COP can be defined solely in the input shares, while output efficiencies specify any mechanical losses of the heat pump. This also simplifies incorporating hourly parameters for input shares that may differ from output efficiencies. This way, there is no need for the users to set “variable input ratio” for multi-input technologies in case of time varying efficiencies, as this is already taken care of by this new modelling convention.

Example 1

This example and the subsequent calculations detail the differences in calculation between V2 and V3.

V2	Input EC	Input Share	Output EC	Output Efficiency [%]
Primary	Electricity	100	HT Heat	300
	Ambient Heat	200
V3	Input EC	Input Share	Output EC	Output Efficiency [%]
	Electricity	100	HT Heat	100
	Ambient Heat	200

Calculation:

In V2:

Output i = Primary Input * Efficiency Output i

HT Heat = 100 * 300% = 300

In this case, 100 units of Electricity will lead to 300 units of HT Heat. No matter what is the input share of Ambient Heat.

In V3:

Output i = Sum of Inputs * Efficiency Output,

HT Heat = (100 + 200) * 100% = 300

In this case, 100 units of Electricity and 200 units of Ambient Heat will lead to 300 units of HT Heat.

When setting up a new project directly in V3, be aware of the new modelling conventions! Keeping the same output efficiencies would lead to a higher unexpected output. For example, 100 units of Electricity and 200 units of Ambient Heat would lead to:

HT Heat = (100 + 200) * 300% = 900

In order to correctly model the behavior of the technologies, the output efficiencies are recalculated using this equation:

V3 Output Efficiency = (Primary Input Share * V2 Output Efficiency) / Sum of input shares.

For the heat pump example, it leads to:

V3 Output efficiency of HT Heat = (100 * 300%) / 300 = 100%

Note: When migrating a project from V2 to V3, this recalculation is automated using the provided equation. Therefore, manual recalculation of output efficiencies is unnecessary.

E-Mobility Parameters - Storage Technology Candidates

V2: EVs could be modelled as storage technology candidates by activating the E-MOBILITY PARAMETERS (see documentation: Add EV Batteries).
V3 (V3.1): In the current version (V3.1), the E-MOBILITY PARAMETERS are not not yet available. We plan to re-introduce these parameters in the V3.2 release (Q3 2024). Meanwhile, users could model EVs with the alternative method (see documentation: Add EV Batteries | 4.-Can-I-model-EV-as-a-demand-instead?).

During migration from V2 to V3, this is one of the few steps that requires manual migration. Here are the steps:

From the V2 Output files, download mobility profiles. Navigate toResult Tables\ScenarioName_Point #.xlsx. Open the excel sheet named after the storage technology candidate that contains E-MOBILITY PARAMETERS, and extract the “Flow Charge(kWh)“ column to obtain the energy demand profile (TEMPLATE PROFILE XLSX).
In the migrated V3 scenario, upload e-mobility profiles as energy demands.
In the migrated V3 scenario, delete the storage technology candidate containing the E-MOBILITY PARAMETERS.

Objective Function & Results

This section covers how to achieve the same results in V3 as your single-stage V2 projects.

Matching V2's Objective Function:

In V3, select "Minimum Annualized Life-Cycle Cost" to mirror the objective function used in V2. V3 provides additional options, but you can find detailed explanations in the full Sympheny V3 documentation.

Understanding Cost Presentation:

V2 projects displayed life-cycle costs as EAC (Equivalent Annualized Cost). In V3, these costs are presented as NPC (Net Present Cost).
You can still access the EAC values in the exported Excel sheets.

Note: In single-stage models, the following objectives have the same outcome:

Minimum Life-Cycle Cost
Minimum Annualized Life-Cycle Cost

NPC and EAC

NPC calculates the present value of all cash flows across years, considering the time value of money. EAC converts the cost of investments with different lifespans or cash flow patterns into equal annual payments.

For the migrated projects in V3, users can expect that the EAC will remain consistent with what was seen in V2. There could be a slight variation (up to 5%) due to the difference in time resolution or optimization parameters (e.g. optimality gap) set by the user in V3. If this is not the case, please send your questions (see next session).

The NPC representing the discounted sum of cash flows across all years per stage. This includes all costs and revenues for all components in the model.

To determine the EAC, begin by calculating the CRF (Capital Recovery Factor):

Where i is the real discount rate, and n is the number of years in a stage.

The real discount rate, i, can be calculated using the following:

Finally, the EAC are calculated using the following: