September, 2019

New Updates to HOMER Grid Software Offer Enhanced Modeling for Distributed Energy Systems

The HOMER Grid software, a tool for pre-feasibility analysis of grid-tied distributed energy systems, has three new features that will make it an even more powerful and efficient tool. Released this week, HOMER Grid 1.6 provides for close integration with financial modeling tools, easy creation of custom utility tariffs and improved ways to determine the optimal size of PV inverters:

Inflection Points: The Dawn of a New Microgrid-Powered Era

At nightfall on December 20, 1880, twenty-three arc lights switched on in New York, casting the cityscape in a blue-tinted glow. In that moment, Broadway Street became one of the first thoroughfares in America to be lit by electricity. It’s hard to imagine that an act as small as passing a current through a filament could forever alter every aspect of culture, industry, and landscape. But as soon as electric lights switched on, communities were connected as homes and businesses became part of an energy network. While the electric light bulb may have inspired one age of illumination, today our world is poised once again to experience an electron-inspired transformation: the global microgrid revolution:

Empowering Africa

Approximately one billion people around the world lack access to electricity, according to the World Bank, and more than half of those one billion people live in Africa. This has serious implications for global health, education, food security, gender equality, and global economies. We spoke with John Kidenda, the Director of Software, Analytics and Customer Support at PowerGen Renewable Energy, where he works to provide communities across Africa with sustainable, decentralized power in the form of mini-grids. John was a speaker at the HOMER International Microgrid Conference:

Kibera microgrid helps bring education, clean laundry and employment to Nairobi’s urban poor

In the middle of the Kibera, a large shantytown outside of Nairobi, a mirorgrid is powering a a new community center that provides clean water, showers, laundry facilities, internet service and classrooms for people who live in the surrounding neighborhood. It is also providing newfound hope and job training for the residents, according to Serena Patel, an Energy engineering student at the University of California at Berkeley is working on the microgrid. Serena will be presenting her findings at the HOMER International Microgrid Conference October 7-9 in Cambridge, MA. Learn more:

Stakeholders in D.C. are developing policy and process recommendations around Microgrids and DERs

The Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) has consulted on grid modernization program for the District of Columbia, organizing stakeholder input and recommending a regulatory framework for microgrids. Join us at the HOMER International Microgrid Conference, October 7-8 to learn more about this exciting project from SEPA speaker Jared Leader:

Artificial Intelligence: Could AI catalyze the microgrid market?


What’s the best way to integrate and optimize high concentrations of distributed energy resources and respond to grid events rapidly? Researchers at the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) believe that the answer lies in energy systems that can make decisions and respond to events without human intervention—an autonomous microgrid, supported by machine learning:

HOMER Energy 2019 Conference to Explore Rapidly Diversifying Microgrid Market

The 7th annual HOMER International Microgrid Conference will take place in Cambridge, Massachusetts from October 7-9. Acknowledging the explosion in popularity of microgrids worldwide, the conference will explore the lessons that can be learned from pioneering microgrids in remote locations, and examine what insights can be applied to new grid-connected projects. In addition to domestic applications, leading microgrid innovators will present case studies from around the world: