DC block configuration
The DC block's four sides, how blocks stack into Solo, Twin and Quad clusters, and what the DC config setting constrains.
The DC block is the containerized battery unit — a 20 ft container, 6.058 × 2.438 m, holding 5–6.25 MWh depending on the manufacturer.
The four sides of a DC block
A DC block is not symmetric. Each side has a role, and each role sets its own clearance.
Manufacturers offer A and B mirror variants so two blocks can pair with their service sides facing outward. The cable end is on the same short end for both; the mirror swaps which long side carries the doors. The solver places A/B pairs automatically.
The supported design
Manufacturers vary where the cooling sits, which sides carry doors, and which sides can stack. The tool models one archetype: the current-generation liquid-cooled 20 ft design drawn above. Its default dimensions and energy match that class — see Supported equipment for the full reference set.
Designs with different cooling and access arrangements pack differently and need their own models; that support is on the roadmap. For a block of this archetype with different clearances, adjust the service distances in Site details.
Clusters: how blocks stack
Blocks stack only on their blind sides, with a 0.2 m gap between them. Service clearance applies around the cluster's outer boundary, not between the blocks inside it — that is what makes stacking denser than placing singles.
Two rules are never violated: an S2S stack joins blind short sides, so the cable ends face outward toward the PCS; an L2L stack joins blind long sides, so the doors face outward. A door or cable connection buried inside a stack would leave the equipment unserviceable.
What the DC config setting does
The DC config picker constrains which cluster sizes the solver may use:
- Auto — the solver chooses per site: Quad where space allows, stepping down to Twin or Solo where a zone is too small for a quad.
- Quad / Twin / Solo — restricts the solver to that size and smaller. A forced choice decomposes downward (a Quad site may still use twins in a leftover strip) but never escalates: forcing Twin guarantees no quad appears.
The Quad is available at both durations, but the skid count changes. A skid converts a fixed power, so at 4h a Quad runs on one 40 ft skid; at 2h its four blocks exceed that and it builds as Quad Split, two skids, one per DC row.
Force a cluster size when your project standard, supplier, or O&M concept is built around one configuration. Otherwise leave it on Auto: the per-zone fallback is what lets an irregular boundary use all of its space.
Cluster size and density
Every cluster needs its own skid and its own service perimeter. Fewer, larger clusters mean fewer skids and less clearance area per MWh, so the same boundary holds more energy with Quads than with Solos. Skid pairing per cluster size is covered in BESS section configurations.