# HOMER Energy Announces Upgrade To Address Rapidly Changing Microgrid Storage Market

- Link: https://greenlivingguy.com/2016/05/homer-energy-announces-upgrade-to-address-rapidly-changing-microgrid-storage-market/
- Published: 2016-05-21T16:50:05-04:00
- Author: greenlivingguy

(Boulder, Colo. – May 18, 2016) HOMER Energy today announced the release of HOMER
Pro 3.6, the latest version of the company’s Pro software, the global standard for
early stage microgrid design and analysis.

Microgrids are independent electrical systems. They can operate either in concert
with the main electrical grid or separately from it – in “islanded” mode. The sizes
can range from a single building or household to a region.

[⌊image⌉⌊image⌉[

[HOMER](https://greenlivingguy.com/2016/05/aia-education-provider-launches-online-continuing-education-opportunity-for-architects-engineers-and-green-building-professionals/)
is different from other tools in the renewable energy analysis space in its focus
on hybrid renewable microgrids. That’s because they combine multiple energy and 
storage sources, such as wind with solar photovoltaics and batteries.  HOMER determines
what combination will work where; it is a decision analysis tool for microgrids 
of all shapes and sizes.

The HOMER (**_Hybrid Optimization of Multiple Energy Resources_**) software was 
developed at the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (
NREL).  HOMER was licensed to HOMER Energy LLC in 2009, setting the stage for the
development of HOMER Pro and now HOMER Pro 3.6.

> 
> #### _**“The release of HOMER Pro in 2014 allowed us to incorporate into HOMER the unique solutions and approaches of our industry partners,” said HOMER creator and HOMER Energy CEO Dr. Peter Lilienthal.  “HOMER Pro 3.6 goes beyond that to address the rapidly-changing storage market, which is key to the economics of microgrids.”⏎  ⏎ **
> 

The software’s new Advanced Storage Module allows users to access many advanced 
modeling capabilities. That includes variation in capacity with temperature, changes
in resistance when batteries are in series, and degradation. For example, changes
in operating efficiency and capacity as the battery grows older.

[⌊image⌉⌊image⌉[

HOMER Pro 3.6 also includes a new Multi-Year Module. It allows the explicit modeling
of load growth, fuel prices, PV degradation, and storage degradation in microgrids
over the entire project life.

The ability to explicitly model load growth, fuel prices, operating and maintenance
costs, and degradation have been one of the most requested changes. That’s to the
software over its 20+ year history.

#### Moreover, the software has had major updates every 3 months since its release in November 2014. Other major improvements within the last year have been the ability to model unreliable grid systems. Also, to optimize a solution more quickly and efficiently.

HOMER Pro 3.6 runs on the Windows operating systems and folks can download it from
the HOMER Energy website.

**_Source: _**[**_HOMER Energy_**](https://www.homerenergy.com/)

![author avatar](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/df91669667126e1290c21ee0342c386e2da19d588d4d9ca6560bd82ed59a9641?
s=300&d=monsterid&r=g)

 greenlivingguy

 The Green Living Guy, Seth Leitman is an independent power producer, a green living
expert, and Editor of the McGraw-Hill, TAB Green Guru Guides. Seth is also an Author,
Radio Host, Reporter, Writer and an Environmental Consultant on green living. The
Green Living Guy writes about green living, green lighting, the green guru guides
and more. Seth's books range from: # Build Your Own Electric Vehicle by Bob Brant
and Seth Leitman (2nd and 3rd editions) # Build Your Own Plug-in Hybrid Electric
Vehicle by Seth Leitman # Build Your Own Electric Motorcycle by Carl Vogel # Green
Lighting by Seth Leitman, Brian Clark Howard and Bill Brinsky # Solar Power For 
Your Home by David Findley # Renewable Energies For Your Home by Russel Gehrke #
Do-it-Yourself Home Energy Audits by David Findley # Build Your Own Small Wind Power
System by Brian Clark Howard and Kevin Shea # and more green living books to follow.

 [See Full Bio](https://greenlivingguy.com/author/greenlivingguy/) [  ](https://greenlivingguy.com/author/greenlivingguy/)