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:
September, 2019
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:
Distributed Energy, Denver, October 30 – November 1
Join us at Distributed Energy, Denver, where stakeholders from across the energy industry will be exploring the dramatic changes underway. HOMER Energy CEO Dr. Peter Lilienthal will be speaking Thursday, October 31. Learn more:
Off-Grid Experts Workshop 2019, Bavaria, Germany
With the theme “Energies & Synergies,” the 2019 Off-Grid Experts Workshop is a three-day program built around self-sufficient solar, wind and hydro power systems and the off-grid power supply. The conference offers international experts, exciting DIY workshops, stimulating discussions, networking events, and an exhibition.
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:
Solar Power International, September 23-26, Salt Lake City
Join us at Solar Power International this September 23-26, 2019 at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Come visit us at Booth # 3518.
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:
Renewable Microgrids for C&I in Africa
Today, the market for commercial and industrial (C&I) solar in Sub-Saharan Africa appears positioned for rapid growth. The high-cost and poor-quality of grid power, declining solar energy costs, […]
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:
60Hertz addresses the human dimension of microgrid operations
Join us at the 7th Annual HOMER International Microgrid Conference October 7-9 in Cambridge, MA and learn what microgrids in remote arctic regions are teaching us. 60Hertz is one company that is transforming O&M with a mobile app:
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:
HOMER Energy will be at the 2019 Caribbean Renewable Energy Forum (CREF)
The Caribbean Renewable Energy Forum (CREF) brings together investors, developers, utilities, bankers, regulators, suppliers, and policy-makers to discuss how to ramp up investment in clean energy across the Caribbean. HOMER Energy will be there: