.. disco documentation master file, created by
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DISCO Documentation
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DISCO (Distribution Integration Solution Cost Options) is an NREL-developed, 
python-based software tool for conducting scalable, repeatable distribution analyses. 
While DISCO was originally developed to support photovoltaic (PV) impact analyses, 
it can also be used to understand the impact of other distributed energy resources (DER) 
and load changes on distribution systems. Analysis modules currently included in DISCO are:

* Snapshot hosting capacity analysis, in which hosting capacity is based on a 
  traditional definition of if operating thresholds are exceeded for 
  worst-case/bounding snapshots in time
* Snapshot impact analysis, which calculates the same impact metrics as 
  hosting capacity, but for specific user-defined PV deployment scenarios
* Dynamic hosting capacity analysis, in which hosting capacity is calculating 
  using quasi-static time-series (QSTS) simulations and dynamic impact metrics 
  for voltage and thermal loading. PV curtailment, 
  number of device (voltage regulator, capacitor switch) operations, and 
  energy losses are also calculated as part of this analysis because excessive 
  PV curtailment, increases in device operations and associated replacement 
  cost increases, and energy losses can also serve to limit how much PV can 
  be economically interconnected to a given feeder.  
* Dynamic impact analysis, which is to dynamic hosting capacity analysis as 
  snapshot impact analysis is to snapshot hosting capacity analyses. 


DISCO analysis is based on power flow modeling with OpenDSS used as the simulation engine. 
PyDSS (https://nrel.github.io/PyDSS) is used to interface with OpenDSS 
and provide additional control layers. 

The benefit of using DISCO instead of just directly using OpenDSS or PyDSS is two-fold:

* DISCO provides the infrastructure required to run a large number of analyses 
  by managing job submission and execution through JADE (https://nrel.github.io/jade/).
* DISCO provides ready-made, tested code to calculate snapshot and dynamic impact 
  metrics, allowing for repeatable analyses across projects and teams without 
  having to re-create code to process OpenDSS results. 

Examples of how DISCO has been or is currently being used are:

* Evaluating curtailment risk associated with using advanced inverter controls 
  and flexible interconnection options for PV grid integration on 100’s of circuits. 

DISCO does not yet have the ability to conduct end-to-end techno-economic analyses 
of different distribution integration solutions, including looking at impact on 
customer bills, utility revenue, or the economic impact to customers and utilities 
of reduced electricity demand. Thus, this is not a tool for comprehensive 
techno-economic analysis. 

.. toctree::
   :maxdepth: 1
   :caption: User Guide

   installation
   overview
   quick-start
   data-sources
   pv-deployments
   transform-models
   analysis-workflows
   pipelines
   debugging-issues
   data-ingestion
   advanced-guide

.. toctree::
   :maxdepth: 1
   :caption: Contribution

   build-docs
   license


Indices and tables
==================

* :ref:`genindex`
* :ref:`modindex`
* :ref:`search`