The Power Planning palette

Command	Path
Show or Hide Power Planning Palette	Spotlight > Cables and Power Planning

The Power Planning palette provides information about all the objects that participate in power calculations.

Please read the Notice tab for information about the power planning feature.

Component Graph: Provides a detailed schematic diagram showing the internal wiring of each device in the system. Use this diagram to view connections between the devices' internal electrical components, including fuses, inputs, and outputs. 

Device Graph: Provides a simplified schematic diagram showing the connections between each device in the system. Use this diagram to view and edit the electrical device connections.

Power Overview: Shows power calculation data for the system, and displays the load acting on supply objects.

Property View: Lists the properties of all the electrical components in the file, and edits the most commonly changed parameters.

Connection View: Shows how electrical components (lighting devices, consumers, power supplier, distributors, etc.) are connected, and lists the parts required to make the connection.

Phase View: Lists consumer objects and the phases to which they are connected.

Component Graph

The Component Graph shows a network diagram of each electrical component in the drawing. To learn more about electrical components, see Creating custom electrical devices. Use the Component Graph to view the component-level connections. The components are labeled with their unique ID and electrical load. Overloaded components display in red.

You cannot edit connections from the Component Graph.

The diagram's layout reflects the flow of power. Components that supply power are placed above components that receive power. Components with the same power source are placed at the same level. Wire connections are represented by lines connecting the components' input and output ports. 

Device Graph

The Device Graph shows a network diagram of each electrical device in the drawing. This diagram provides a higher-level view of the electrical system than the Component Graph. Use the Device Graph to to view and edit the device-level connections. The devices are labeled with their unique ID and electrical workload. Overloaded devices display in red.

The diagram's layout reflects the flow of power. Devices that supply power are placed above devices that receive power. Devices with the same power source are placed at the same level. Cable connections are represented by lines connecting the devices' input and output ports. 

Double-click on a device in the diagram to zoom to the object in the drawing and select it.

To power patch the devices:

Click the input/output port you want to connect from and drag the cursor to the output/input port you want to connect to. You can create new connections or re-patch existing connections, but you cannot delete connections.

An alert opens if there was a pre-existing connection. Click Yes to override the connection and re-patch the devices.

The drawing automatically updates with the new connections. 

Power Overview

The Power Overview displays the power calculation data for the drawing. To calculate power, the drawing must include at least one power source. Power calculations happen automatically as you configure and edit the electrical system. 

The display of data in the Power Overview depends on which sub-tab is selected above the table.

Click All Generators to display the electrical workload for all power sources in the drawing. The workload is summarized by device and by generator.

Click to show/hide the parameters.Click to show/hide the parameters.

If the electrical system has multiple power sources, click the sub-tab for each generator to view its electrical workload and phase loading for each supply. 

Click to show/hide the parameters.Click to show/hide the parameters.

Click a cell in the table to edit the data; the editable field appears at the top of the table for modification. After edits, the drawing updates automatically. The data can be exported to a worksheet and placed in the drawing (see Creating worksheets) or exported to another spreadsheet application. 

Property View

The Property View lists all connection options from all objects in the scene, one per row. Common parameters, such as Load Name, ID, and, for consumers, Consumption, can be edited from the tab. Items can be sorted by column category.

Filter the displayed items by clicking to select an item category; only rows of items with a check mark display. Search for an item in the search bar; only rows of items which meet the search criteria display.

Double-click on a row to zoom to the object in the drawing and select it.

Click Export Worksheet to create a Power Planning Property View worksheet of the connection options.

Column order and sorting are not preserved upon export.

Connection View

The Connection View lists all the connections of the electrical components in the drawing, and lists the parts required to make the connection.  Items can be sorted by column category.

Filter the displayed items by clicking to select an item category; only rows of items with a check mark display. Search for an item in the search bar; only rows of items which meet the search criteria display.

Double-click on a row to zoom to the object in the drawing and select it.

Click Export Worksheet to create a Power Planning Connection View worksheet of the connection options.

Column order and sorting are not preserved upon export.

Phase View

The Phase View lists the consumer objects and the phases to which they are connected, as determined from the power source. Displaying the phasing information is useful for cases where the connection pin information is insufficient for determining the phase, but the phasing information is required.

Cables and power planning

Creating custom electrical devices

Placing distributors

Lighting device properties

Setting cable preferences

Power patching the electrical system

Editing cables