In this post by HOMER CEO Dr. Peter Lilienthal, we consider the problem of how to classify microgrids. This is a special entry in our microgrid learning series. […]
Peter Lilienthal, Ph.D.
Microgrids Rank High for Top Utility Issues 2012
The Intelligent Utility newsletter lists their take on the: “Top Five Issues of 2012 (so far)”. Of the five issues listed two of them speak directly to the […]
Microgrid Value Propositions
Microgrids are power systems that can operate autonomously using combinations of conventional generation technologies, such as diesel gensets and combined heat and power systems, renewable resources, other new […]
The Island Energy Challenge
Petroleum is the problem Islands face extreme challenges from an energy security perspective. Pipelines supplying inexpensive and plentiful natural gas are not an option for them. Only very […]
Clean microgrid technologies are going to change the utility industry
Large electric grids like we have in North America are awe-inspiring. They are undoubtedly the most complex machines ever built. People don’t usually think of them as a […]
Powering Health
HOMER Energy has renewed its contract with the US Agency for International Development and Tetratech to design hybrid renewable energy systems for rural health clinics and hospitals in […]
The Other Problem with Nuclear Power
I got into renewable energy in the 1970’s, partially in response to the prospect of an expansion of nuclear power. I was videotaped by CBS News at Seabrook […]
The First True Smart Grids are Being Built Today – in Alaska
The first true “smart grids” are already being built, but they aren’t where you would expect. It is not Boulder Colorado’s much-hyped SmartGridCity, built by Xcel at a […]
Clean, Smart Micro-grids
Despite recent experiments with deregulation, the current top-down utility paradigm has remained essentially unchanged for a century. Large central station generators provide an undifferentiated power product over a […]
Why Isolated Utilities should be the Test Bed for Smart Grids
There is a lot of optimism about the potential for the Smart Grid. That optimism is justified because communication and control technologies have advanced tremendously in the last […]
HOMER Users are Creating a New Energy Future
If the world is going to transition to a sustainable energy future, then renewable energy must eventually supply more than a 20% share of the power sector. However, […]
New Revelations about the Future of Oil
Everyone wants to know the future price of oil, but has the most authoritative source on the topic been politicized? According to the Guardian newspaper, 2 senior officials […]
The Clean Energy Innovator’s Dilemma
Are you one of the innovators that will disrupt the unsustainable energy industries and lead the clean energy revolution? The innovator’s dilemma is that established companies can’t develop […]
HOMER Users are Ushering in the New Era of Clean Energy
Who are the little guys working in their pajamas that are going to usher in the new era of clean energy? The last NEXT BIG THING was ushered […]
Hybrid Renewable Power Systems in the Utility Planning Paradigm
Utility systems have always been hybrid power systems. The traditional hybrid mix was a combination of baseload and peaking plants. The primary utility business model was investing in […]
Visions of the Future from an Airplane Window
In the early 1980’s I was selling high efficicency sodium lighting. I could look out an airplane window and tell that there was a huge potential to increase […]
HOMER at the intersection of 2 industry mega-trends
Two conflicting trends are intersecting to create a need for a tool like HOMER. The first is the increasing diversity of new power technologies. The second is the […]
Is Clean Energy the Next Big Thing?
The clean energy industry is being invaded by refugees from the information processing industry. Having watched the explosion of technology and innovation in information and communication technology they […]
HOMER’s Role in the Clean & Smart Grid
Distributed power systems will be an essential element that improves the reliability, resilience, and flexibility of the upcoming smart grid. Supplying more energy due to new technologies such […]
Welcome to HOMER Energy
Our mission is to expand the role of clean energy by giving the world a simple, but powerful tool. Clean energy is not a single thing. It is […]