Need comparison between CDEGS and WinIGS 1

[saadicarnot]

Hi Fellows,

We are currently using CDEGS software package for grounding system design an analysis. From one of IEEE surveys I found that WinIGS is also very popular these days but I am unable to get my hands on the demo version of the same for evaluation purpose.

It would be nice if some one can give me a comparison of the two products as I want to opt for the better one. Thanks.

 

[WindTurbinesAreFine]

I've been using WinIGS for close to a year now, and it is a very nice program, but really lacks some professional polishing to it.

The user manuals that come with it are poorly written, and would be absolutely useless to someone new to grounding analysis. As well, there seem to be only 2 people in charge of tech support, and can be weeks before you get a response.

There are features in the program that don't work, and seem to be just left there from a Beta testing phase. This can be very confusing when you are trying to complete a study, since there is nothing indicating that these features don't work.

If you are working in Canada, you are almost forced to use imperial dimensions, since there is no global setting to switch between imperial and metric.

The graphical results in WinIGS are very nice looking. You have the ability to create 3D structures that are useful as a reference or when doing a lightning protection study.

Also, the cost of WinIGS is MUCH lower than CDEGS.

Full disclosure, I have not used CDEGS. I have talked to a few colleagues who have though, and they are very satisfied with the program.

I hope this helps a bit.

 

[WindTurbinesAreFine]

Also, your satisfaction with the program will also slightly depend on the scale of your projects. If you are doing large scale utility projects where you need to also model the distribution/transmission system, CDEGS is more polished for that. I have found that the distribution/transmission system modeling in WinIGS is very clunky to use.

 

[eamonkerrigan]

I recently evaluated WinIGS for our company. For disclosure, I have been using CDEGS for several years now. I found WinIGS very clunky and difficult to use. There were several features that did not seem to work or at least, I couldn't figure them out. The biggest problem was tech support. For weeks I tried calling for help, but got no response.

CDEGS on the other hand is NOT easy to learn. But, once you figure it out, I think it is superior in terms of what you can do. The tech support from SES is second to none and is definitely worth the annual fee.

I would say it all depends on your application, especially how much you will use it. The cost difference is huge, so that will have to be a factor.