How do you handle 24h Simulink simulations with Simscape/Specialized Power Systems?
During my PhD work, I started wondering if there’s an efficient way to run long-duration simulations in Simulink, especially with a stop time of 86400 s (a full day).
I’m currently working on a PV system and studying the behavior of the photovoltaic array under varying irradiance conditions for a forecasting project. The issue is that using both Simscape and Specialized Power Systems libraries makes the simulation extremely heavy and slow.
I’ve read about several optimization techniques to reduce simulation time, such as:
- parallel/simultaneous simulation,
- saving and restoring states,
- using different solver modes,
- reducing switching frequencies,
- averaging techniques, etc.
While these methods definitely help, they still don’t reduce a full-day simulation to something practical like a few hours.
One solution I found was replacing some components with mathematical equations or simplified models. This speeds things up a lot, but obviously comes at the cost of accuracy. Another option is converting certain components into MATLAB functions instead of detailed Simulink blocks.
Still, I feel like this is a common problem, especially for people working on EMS, forecasting, or long-term energy simulations. I was hoping others here may have faced the same issue and found better approaches or best practices.
Any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
