Compare Scenarios
Scenario comparison happens in the Dashboard tab of iPool Suite (iPool → Dashboard). Open that tab and load your scenarios before following the steps below. For a full reference on the tab itself, see Dashboard → Interface and Navigation.
Comparison View plots the same metric for the same object across multiple scenarios simultaneously, so you can see how different model assumptions affect results. By default up to 5 comparison scenarios are shown next to the main one; change this in Settings → Dashboard → Scenarios in Comparison (1 to 10).
Comparison View requires the scenario to be loaded: click its name in the Scenarios tree. The ≡ button loads only the Summary, which is not enough. Once loaded, select an object from the Objects tree before switching to Comparison View.
Step-by-Step Guide
- Step 1: Open Comparison View
- Step 2: Add Comparison Scenarios
- Step 3: Choose a Metric
- Step 4: Review Statistics
Select an Object and Open Comparison View
- Click a scenario in the Scenarios tree to load it. Wait for the progress bar to finish.
- Click the Objects button in the left panel header to open the Objects tree.
- Click an object node (Pool, Region, Zone, Group, Link, or Unit) to select it.
- In the sub-bar above the chart, click the Comparison view chip.
The chart area switches to Comparison View. A stats table below the chart shows a placeholder: "Drop scenarios from the Scenario Tree to compare."
Add Scenarios to Compare
Drag a scenario from the Scenarios tree (left panel, Scenarios tab) and drop it onto the stats table header area below the chart, or click the + button on the scenario's row in the Scenarios tree.
- How many comparison scenarios you can add is set in Settings → Dashboard → Scenarios in Comparison (default 5). Above 5 the line colours repeat.
- Each added scenario is drawn in a distinct colour from the comparison palette.
- A reload icon button in the stats table header forces a fresh read of all comparison data from disk.
Comparison scenarios do not need to be fully loaded before you drag them in — Dashboard reads the required data files directly.
Select What to Compare
Use the Compare: dropdown in the stats table header to choose the metric plotted on the Y-axis. The options depend on the selected object type:
| Object type | Available metrics |
|---|---|
| Pool | Price, Generation, Demand, Net Load |
| Region | Price, Generation, Demand, Net Load, Frequency Regulation Price, Reserve Up Price, Reserve Down Price, Dispatchable Reserve Price |
| Zone | Price, Generation, Demand, Net Load |
| Link | MWFlow, ToPrc, FrPrc, UnFlow |
| Group | No time-series base metrics — profile options only (see Profile Comparison Mode below) |
| Other types | Price, Generation, Demand |
The default metric is MWFlow for Link objects and Price for all others.
Read the Stats Table
The stats table below the chart shows summary statistics for each scenario. The columns are:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Scenarios (what's on screen) / Scenarios (whole scenario) | Scenario name — label changes with the stats scope toggle |
| Color | Color swatch for the scenario |
| Mean | Mean value over the selected range |
| Min | Minimum value over the selected range |
| Max | Maximum value over the selected range |
| Average Diff | Difference from the primary scenario; the primary row shows Baseline |
| MAE | Mean Absolute Error — shown only when comparing Demand, Load, or Net Load |
| MAPE | Mean Absolute Percentage Error — shown only when comparing Demand, Load, or Net Load |
Average difference is calculated based on aligned time points.
Use the scope button in the stats table header to calculate statistics over what is on screen or over the whole scenario. Show difference plots each compared scenario minus the main one.
Comparison Tabs
Next to the Chart tab, the Comparison viewer has its own tabs:
| Tab | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Table | The Analysis Summary statistics for all comparison scenarios |
| What changed | A written summary of the differences |
| Distribution | Price percentiles and a price-duration curve |
| Difference map | An hour × day map of the differences (only while Show difference is on for a time-series comparison) |
| Sweep | A sensitivity chart (only when the compared scenarios differ in one setting) |
Click a tab to bring it to the front.
Profile Comparison Mode
For Pool, Region, and Group objects, the Compare: dropdown includes additional profile options below a separator line:
| Option | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Price Profile | Boxplot of price distribution by hour of the day across all comparison scenarios |
| Demand Profile | Boxplot of demand distribution by hour of the day |
| Generation Profile | Boxplot of generation distribution by hour of the day |
When a profile option is selected, a Day Type dropdown appears in the toolbar with these options: All Days, Workdays, Weekends, Saturdays, Sundays, Holidays, Sunday + Holidays.
Removing Scenarios
- To remove one comparison scenario, click the x button on its row in the stats table.
- To remove all comparison scenarios at once, click the Clear button (trash icon) in the stats table header.
Export
Use the Export button (downward-arrow icon) in the toolbar to download the comparison chart or data:
- PNG / JPEG / PDF / SVG — chart image (PDF works offline)
- CSV / XLSX — underlying data for all comparison scenarios