>> HOMER Energy in the News 2015-2020
Hybrid Solar Minigrid to Power Tanzanian Island Village
July 31, 2015
Microgrid Economics: It Takes a Village, a University, and a Ship
September 30, 2014
Anne Butterfield on Energy Security
April 6, 2014
… Communities thinking for themselves may feel the need for alternative strategies, like bringing a gun to a knife fight. And it’s right under our nose: distributed generation from rooftop solar coupled with battery storage and microgrids may be the ultimate backstop for security at critical services. Peter Lilienthal, CEO of HOMER Energy based in Boulder, draws a bright line: “The only way to truly assure high reliability of electric service is by adding more energy at the customer’s end of the distribution system.”
Caribbean Islands Agree to Swap Diesel Power for Renewable Sources
February 6, 2014
“Several Caribbean nations committed on Thursday to start replacing diesel generators, the most common means of producing electricity on islands, with renewable sources like wind, solar or the earth’s heat.”
The article, focusing on the development of a mostly renewable power system for Richard Branson’s Necker Island, was also picked up by the Tehran Times.
“We pay 38c/ KwH,’ says James Fletcher, St Lucia’s energy and science minister. “The result is that industries like tourism, which are very heavy electricity users, are not competitive, our agriculture cannot move out of being just primary commodity producers, and our people have no money.’
The Integrated Grid: Realizing the Full Value of Central and Distributed Energy Resources
February 10, 2014
“The electric power system has evolved through large, central power plants interconnected via grids of transmission lines and distribution networks that feed power to customers. The system is beginning to change – rapidly in some areas – with the rise of distributed energy resources (DER) such as small natural gas-fueled generators, combined heat and power plants, electricity storage, and solar photovoltaics (PV) on rooftops and in larger arrays connected to the distribution system.”
“CohnReznick Think Energy (CRTE) created the successful request for proposal (RFP) process and the first draft of the innovative Diesel Reduction Agreement (DRA) that made possible yesterday’s announcement that Virgin Limited Edition (Virgin) and NRG Energy (NRG) had agreed to develop a renewable energy driven microgrid that will dramatically reduce diesel fuel usage on Necker Island, home of Sir Richard Branson. The new and unique DRA idea was initiated by Homer Energy (HOMER) and CRTE, and further developed by CRTE with valuable input from Virgin, NRG, and HOMER.”
Milliardär will die Stromerzeugung Revolutionieren [Billionaire Wants to Revolutionize Power Generation]
February 3, 2014
“ ‘Die Karibik-Inseln waren technisch nie besonders weit vorne mit dabei’, sagt Peter Lilienthal, CEO der US-Energiefirma ‘Homer’, der die Regierungschefs während des Gipfels beraten soll. ‘Viele Entscheidungsträger sind sehr skeptisch. Das müssen wir ändern.’ Mit an Bord ist auch der ‘Carbon War Room (CWR)’, die Branson-NGO, die sich dem Kampf gegen Kohlenstoffdioxid verschrieben hat.”
November 6, 2013
“HOMER Energy LLC has become a client of the Innovation Center of the Rockies to receive guidance as the clean-tech company enters a growth stage. Tim Bour, the center’s executive director, said the center believes HOMER will be one of the Boulder success stories. ‘HOMER Energy is a clean-tech company with a strong business model addressing a pressing pain point for customers by reducing their fuel costs.’ ”
“The goal of software models for large grid-connected projects that sell all of their power on an as-available basis should be as precise as possible about the kWh production in order to obtain the maximum financial leverage. This requires attention to details such as shading, soiling, panel mismatch, and a variety of other factors that individually have a small impact, but collectively can be significant.
HOMER Helps Bring Renewable Energy Home
May 24, 2013
“With more than a billion people living without electricity across the globe and little chance of getting conventional utilities soon, many innovators pinned their hopes on renewable energy, but clean-energy solutions such as wind and solar come with their own set of challenges. ‘That’s why we created HOMER,’ said Peter Lilienthal, chief executive officer of HOMER Energy LLC, a software and consulting company that helps people in remote areas create reliable energy systems using large portions of clean energy.”
Panelists Cite Keys for Renewable Energy
March 19, 2013
“Whether it’s buying an electric car or converting a gas-powered car to run on electricity, or participating in an Xcel pilot program to save energy and money, consumers want to pay the same or less for renewable energy, according to participants Tuesday morning at the Boulder County Business Report’s CEO Roundtable on Smart Grids & Alternative Transportation.”
Modeling Makes a Case for Boulder Power
February 2, 2013
“In 2010, teams of Boulder citizens found Boulder could reliably reduce carbon emissions by replacing much of the electrical power generated using fossil fuels, especially coal, with sustainable renewable energy, at comparable costs. Available local energy resources were studied and modeled. Economic, financial, regulatory and legal constraints were also considered. Modeling large amounts of renewables verified systems can be as reliable as the status quo or even better. Our results convinced us a Boulder Light and Power Utility may not only be feasible, it might be our best choice and certainly warrants serious consideration by our community.”
Modelers: Boulder Municipal Utility Feasible
June 27, 2011
“A team of 30 skilled volunteers working over six months has developed an independent model of whether it’s feasible for the city of Boulder to form a municipal utility and reduce its carbon emissions for a cost that’s similar to what customers now pay Xcel Energy. The group used a modeling tool known as HOMER, developed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, as the backbone of the technical model. HOMER was designed to help users figure out how much alternative energy — including wind and solar — can be reliably integrated into an energy system.”
“The HOMER energy modeling software is a powerful tool for designing and analyzing hybrid power systems, which contain a mix of conventional generators, combined heat and power, wind turbines, solar photovoltaics, hydropower, batteries, fuel cells, hydropower, biomass and other inputs. It is used by tens of thousands of people worldwide. For grid-tied or off-grid environments, HOMER helps determine how variable resources such as wind and solar can be integrated optimally into hybrid systems.”
HOMER Energy’s Software Aids Design of Hybrid Power Systems
March 18, 2011
“HOMER will determine the most cost-effective combination of photovoltaic technology and battery storage to meet design goals and fit funding and site constraints. It will also analyze the proposed system’’s sensitivity to changes in such parameters as equipment costs, energy requirements and fuel prices.”
Boulder’s Green Summit: Support for Green Businesses
June 20, 2011
“On June 14, 2011 The Boulder County Business Report hosted the Green Summit, a blending of business & the environment at the Millennium Hotel in Boulder. The Keynote speaker was L. Hunter Lovins author of “Natural Capitalism.” She argued that green energy innovation will lead us in the future.”
“Engineers and non-professionals use the product to run simulations of different energy systems and compare the results to obtain a realistic projection of their capital and operating expenses. HOMER determines the economic feasibility of a hybrid energy system, optimizes the system design, and helps you understand how hybrid renewable systems work.”
“In the process of operational and logistics planning, military planners have a plethora of tools available to determine troop strength, enemy intentions, supply requirements, etc. … Captain Brandon Newell …has figured out how to adapt [the] HOMER model for use in FOBs.”
“The market for software to integrate renewables and microgrids with existing power generation seems to be at an early stage… Homer Energy provides modelling software to analyze and optimize power grids that incorporate high penetrations of renewable energy sources.”
November/December 2010
“Although HOMER is typically used to design complex hybrid systems featuring conventional and renewable energy inputs plus storage, we’re happy to see that ASES included it on their list of tools for PV installers.”
Learn how a maturing solar industry could benefit from production modeling. This is an overview of production modeling theory and a review of a number of tools including HOMER.
Designing a Renewable Energy System for a Main Base Lodge
Winter 2007 Edition
“There are a number of computer programs, such as a program called HOMER, developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the US, which will allow us to take the data we have collected and actually model various possible systems and make comparisons.”