HOMER Energy by UL released a new service – HOMER Front + UL Analysis – to help energy developers design and optimize the complexities of front-of-the-meter utility-scale renewable hybrid power systems that include wind, solar and battery energy storage systems (BESS).
How it works: Using proprietary HOMER Front software, UL advisory experts perform techno-economic modeling of a renewable generation plus BESS. Through this analysis, developers can optimize wind, solar and energy storage sizing, evaluate financial returns and determine economic viability of a system, screen projects to determine site development potential, validate revenue projections, and evaluate potential profitability of energy markets, capacity markets and power purchase agreements.
“As energy and power markets evolve and batteries improve in cost and performance, utility-scale hybrid systems are becoming more common,” said Peter Lilienthal, HOMER Energy founder. “The accelerating energy transition requires a way to model the complex variables in front-of-the-meter generation, which drove us to extend the HOMER engine to perform calculations on inputs including day-ahead or real time markets and more detailed treatment of capital and operating expenses. When combined with the deep expertise in renewable power of UL advisory engineers, HOMER Front shows key information including the optimal dispatch for battery energy storage.”
HOMER Front is built on HOMER software, the standard for modeling, optimization and design of least-cost microgrids and behind-the-meter distributed energy resources (DER). HOMER Front + UL Analysis combines the proven technology of HOMER software with UL’s extensive advisory background in renewable energy performance and long-standing reputation as independent engineers in wind, solar and energy storage.
To provide details on a hybrid system’s financial metrics, HOMER Front models time of delivery power purchase agreements, energy shifting arbitrage for the wholesale energy market including day-ahead and real-time markets, and capacity reserve markets such as resource adequacy (RA) in the California Independent System Operator market (CAISO).
Originally developed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), HOMER software has been downloaded more than 250,000 times and has modeled more than 90,000 projects in over 190 countries. Products include HOMER Pro for standalone microgrids and DERs and HOMER Grid, which helps grid-connected commercial and industrial customers design hybrid renewable energy systems that save on electricity bills, reduce peak loads, and lower carbon footprints. Learn more at HOMEREnergy.com.
— Solar Builder magazine
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.