FAQ
General TRNSYS Questions
- What is TRNSYS?
- What is included in the TRNSYS software package?
TRNSYS (pronounced: 'tran-sis') is a software package for energy simulation of solar processes, building analysis, thermal energy, and more. The software has been commercially available for over 40 years.
The TRNSYS software package consists of the Simulation Studio, the graphical front-end for TRNSYS, TRNBuild, the interface for the TRNSYS building model, TypeStudio, the dedicated Fortran environment for developing new TRNSYS content, TRNEdit, and TRNSYS3D. More information about these is located at the Features section of the website.
General TESS Libraries Questions
- What are TESS Libraries?
- Do I need all of the TESS Libraries?
- Can I use my existing TESS Libraries v17 with TRNSYS v18?
The TESS Libraries are add-on component libraries for TRNSYS. There are over 250 TESS Libraries Components in 14 different Libraries.
It depends on the types of projects to be conducted with TRNSYS. It is a much greater value to purchase all 14 of the TESS Libraries. The descriptions of the TESS Libraries and the components may be found at the TESS Libraries section of the website.
Yes. We anticipate releasing TESS Libraries v18 but the TESS Libraries v17 are compatible with TRNSYS v18.
Pricing/Ordering Questions
- What is the cost of TRNSYS?
- Are there maintenance costs?
- Is Technical Support included with the software purchase?
- What payment methods are accepted?
- When can I obtain the software?
- How do I obtain the software?
The TRNSYS prices and TESS Libraries price lists/order forms are available at the Pricing & Order section of the website.
There are no annual maintenance fees. The TRNSYS license is permanent. Approximately once a year we release an minor version update (18.00 18.01, 18.02, etc.) that is freely available to anyone owning the corresponding major version (18.x). Approximately once every five years we release a new major version. These are paid updates. However, the replaced major version will continue to function and we officially provide technical support on the replaced major version until one year after the release of the new major version. For example v18.0 was released in April 2017. V17.x will be supported until April 2018.
Yes, TESS Technical Support is provided free of charge to all TESS customers.
TESS accepts payment by check, wire transfer, and we now accept credit cards only via a PayPal invoice that is sent to an email address (5% payment discount does not apply with payment via PayPal).
We can send the software when we receive payment. Under certain circumstances we can send the software on receipt of a purchase order and invoice after delivery.
Upon receiving an officially approved purchase order (PO) or payment, TESS Technical Support will send the instructions to download and install the software package.
Other Questions
- Do I need a fortran compiler to use TRNSYS?
- What operating system is required to use TRNSYS?
- What are the system requirements for running TRNSYS?
- How much disk space does TRNSYS require?
No, you do not need a fortran compiler to use TRNSYS. For the advanced users who wish to create their own TRNSYS components to use in their simulation, a fortran compiler is provided in the package.
As of right now, only the Windows operating system (XP/Vista/Windows 7/Windows 8/Windows 10) can be used to run TRNSYS.
There are no specific requirements for RAM or graphics card. At least 16GB of RAM is recommended. In general, most any Windows PC or laptop purchased in the past 5-7 years should be more than capable of running TRNSYS. That said, simulations will run noticeably faster if you have more RAM, a faster CPU, and a faster graphics card. If you want to run a lot of simulations in parallel then it is advantageous to have a machine that has multiple processing cores.
TRNSYS requires about 1GB of disk space. If you install the entire package of add-on weather data then you might need as much as another 1GB of disk space.