HOMER’s HIMC2017 Highlights: Presentations, Panels, Training, and Tours

On Monday, September 18, HIMC2017 kicked off in Denver with a welcome from HOMER Energy CEO Dr. Peter Lillienthal.

We’re just catching up from HOMER Energy‘s HOMER International Microgrid Conference (HIMC2017), which took place this week near our home base, in Denver, Colorado. Approximately 200 attendees participated […]

HOMER Energy Brings Microgrid Modeling to Solar Power International the Week Before Denver Microgrid Event

spi wrapupThe HOMER Energy team poses at our booth in SPI's Microgrid Marketplace before a full day of conversations and HOMER Pro demos.

SPI wrapup … brief Solar Power International highlights On September 10-13, HOMER Energy joined thousands of exhibitors and tens of thousands of attendees at Solar Power International (SPI) […]

HOMER Energy Prepares to Host 5th International Microgrid Conference in Denver, Colorado

The HOMER International Microgrid Conference is the only event of its kind focused on bringing together global leaders and influencers in the microgrid community. Both an educational and networking event, the conference allows attendees to connect with others in their industry to discuss projects and collaborative opportunities. 2017 presentation topics include The Current Microgrid Market State, Microgrid Finance, and Grid Connected Case Studies. The third day offers an optional training in the HOMER software, and the fourth day includes optional tours of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, a tour of the nation’s largest public-private outdoor solar testing and demonstration facility at SolarTAC, and a look inside a leading edge effort to bring clean energy to existing commercial buildings with a visit to the Alliance for Sustainable Colorado’s LEED Platinum building, the Alliance Center.

Lessons from Irma and Harvey: Time for Transition to Resilient Renewable-Energy Microgrids

hurricane grid failure

Our out-of-date fossil-fuel-based infrastructure is failing a world where climate change is bringing more frequent, more extreme, more intense weather to the planet. And the lesson, if we are smart enough to learn it, is that as long as we’re dependent on fossil fuels, these weather events and other related disasters will wreak long-lasting havoc on human lives, the economy, and on the environment.

How to Reduce Energy Costs with Peak Shaving (HOMER Energy at Solar Power International)

For grid-connected commercial and industrial (C&I) customers, the demand charges associated with peaks in consumption during high-use periods can be substantial–up to 70% of the customer’s utility bill–and peak shaving is a great option to reduce these costs. In fact, a just-released National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) survey of U.S. demand charges found that more than 25% of commercial utility customers (or about 5 million customers)  in the U.S. alone would benefit from reducing peak demand consumption.

Renewable Energy Tours: NREL, ASC’s LEED Platinum Building, SolarTAC on HIMC2017 ‘Bonus Day’

colorado renewable energy tourEntrance to National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Photo via US DOE

After the speakers, sessions, events, and trainings wrap up at the 5th annual HOMER International Microgrid Conference (HIMC2017) next month, conference attendees have the option of one more […]

Optimizing Distributed Generation from Remote Villages to the Modern Grid — Stojanovic at HIMC2017

optimizing distributed generationABB's Bob Stojanovic to keynote at HIMC2017. Register for next month's conference today!

Kicking off next month’s 5th annual HOMER International Microgrid Conference (HIMC2017) is a keynote presentation everyone in the microgrid industry should hear. Bob Stojanovic, Director of Microgrids in North America, ABB, shares his unique perspective on “Enabling and Optimizing Distributed Generation, from Remote Villages to the Modern Macrogrid,” to conference attendees at the Embassy Suites, Denver, Colorado.

Move to Distributed, Renewable Power Inevitable, Even in Areas Served by Utilities

grid defection

New distributed energy technologies and business models bring many unprecedented choices in how we create and distribute power. There are three overarching questions, of course: Is this energy model resilient against power outages and grid failure? Is it socially and environmentally responsible? Does it benefit the bottom line?
We are no longer stuck with grid power that doesn’t provide a definitive “Yes!” answer to all three questions. 

MGN Weekly: Moving Past Lights and Chargers in Developing World; Syrian Microgrids Save Lives

von Bismarck syrian hospital microgrids

“Light is, of course, great, so is entertainment [like computers and TV],” says Busso von Bismarck, founder, manager, and head of business development at energy storage provider Qinous. “But I think it’s important to go further and allow people to run machines with electricity: milling machines, welding or workshops, water pumping. These are applications which make economic growth possible.”

MGN Weekly — Advancing Africa’s Top Priority: Light and Power …and More Microgrid News — May 18, 2017

Africa's top priority: light and power for all

Solar microgrids in India’s northern Uttar Pradesh state did little to improve household incomes, encourage business ownership, or reduce the long hours that people spend on daily household work, a new study finds. According to the year-long, randomized survey of nearly 1,300 households in 81 non-electrified rural communities, villagers did buy less kerosene for their lamps, since they could flip on light bulbs at night. But their lives were otherwise unchanged, showing that local officials, energy companies, and NGOs alike need to address other pressing issues — such as underfunded schools or dismal job prospects — before rural electrification can really lift people out of poverty.

IRENA Annual Review 2017 — More Jobs Worldwide in Renewables than in Fossil Fuel

HOMER Pro 3.9

More than 9.8 million people were employed in the renewable energy sector in 2016 — continuing to increase over 2015 numbers — according to a new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Released at the organization’s recent council meeting, the fourth edition Renewable Energy and Jobs –(IRENA) Annual Review 2017 provides the latest employment figures in the renewable energy sector as well as insight into factors affecting the RE labor market. The report presents the status of renewable energy employment, both by technology and in selected countries, over the past year.