Microgrids Come of Age
After nearly a decade of being the premier microgrid conference, we are thrilled to join forces with Microgrid Knowledge’s Microgrid Conference Series to advance microgrids worldwide.
Microgrids play a leading role in the clean energy transition, so the time has come to work together to educate energy professionals on these renewable energy systems.
The Microgrid Knowledge conference series, founded in 2016, attracted more than 4,000 attendees to its virtual and in-person events in 2021. Microgrid 2022 was its largest and most exciting in-person microgrid gathering yet, with more than 60 microgrid innovators and visionaries bringing lively discussions and presentations to the stage.
The Conference Began with a Simple Idea
Known industry-wide, UL Solution’s HOMER conference was started in 2013 by Peter Lilienthal, Ph.D., creator of HOMER® software and UL Solutions Renewable’s global microgrid lead. It began as a gathering for early users of HOMER software and pioneers in renewable energy to engage with and learn from leading experts in the field and one another. Since its beginning, the HOMER conference has grown to more than 3,000 attendees from 136 countries.
The conference began soon after HOMER modeling software was introduced. HOMER software, used by energy professionals around the world, was the only software of its kind when it was introduced in 2009 by Lilienthal. The first users of HOMER software were a tightly knit group of early adopters–true renewable energy pioneers on the leading edge of the hybrid microgrid and distributed energy revolution.
To provide an opportunity for the microgrid community to engage with and learn from leading experts in the field and one other, HOMER Energy created the first HOMER International Microgrid Conference in 2013 in Cancun, Mexico. The positive response led the company to continue it as an annual event and training opportunity. Since that humble beginning, HIMC has traveled to Barcelona, Canberra, Manhattan, Denver, San Diego, and Cambridge, Massachusetts. And during the pandemic, conference attendees benefitted from a no-cost, no travel required conference experience that served more than 3,000 attendees from 120+ countries.
Watch the video highlights of the 2021 HOMER Microgrid and Hybrid Power International Conference.
Conference Resources Available
HIMC 2020 – View the conference recordings and presentations
HMHI 2021 – View the conference recordings and presentations
About HOMER Software
Soon after Lilienthal began his tenure at the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), he joined a team examining options for bringing electricity to the 2 billion people worldwide who had none. Using his background in decision analysis, he began to think about how to create analytical tools for making decisions about how to possibly combine solar photovoltaics, batteries and diesel generators to create hybrid power systems.
The engineering was already there, but making the systems affordable was something of a guessing game and an expensive one. For any given situation, it came down to determining what was the cheapest thing that wouldn’t break, i.e. – how could you most affordably meet the electricity needs of small remote villages, health clinics, schools, etc?
Out of this exercise, the HOMER (Hybrid Optimization of Multiple Energy Resources) software was born, and now more than 20 years later, HOMER software has been used to design and optimize hybrid projects around the globe. In 2009, Lilienthal left NREL to create HOMER Energy LLC, for the sole purpose of further developing and distributing HOMER software.
In December 2019, HOMER Energy was acquired by UL, the global science safety leader. The acquisition combines UL’s experience and recognized thought leadership in solar, wind and battery technology with HOMER Energy’s system design capabilities and distributed energy project database. The combination provides services across the renewable energy value chain.
HOMER software now offers modeling programs to optimize three categories of systems:
HOMER Pro for standalone microgrids
HOMER Grid for distributed generation behind-the-meter systems
HOMER Front for utility-scale energy storage, solar, wind and hybrid systems
HOMER Software is in use by companies, governments, and classrooms everywhere.
HOMER software delivers industry-leading system simulations, optimization, sensitivity analysis and best-in-class storage models across three categories of hybrid systems: islanded microgrids, grid-connected distributed generation, and front-of-the-meter utility-scale storage and hybrid systems.
Learn More
Visit UL Solutions HOMER® software to learn more about HOMER Pro, HOMER Grid and HOMER Front modeling and optimization software, download complimentary trials, sign up for training and explore our extensive knowledge base and other support documents.
