Grant focuses on innovative software that models hybrid energy systems HOMER® Energy has just received a major grant from the National Science Foundation to create enhanced versions of the HOMER software. HOMER is an energy modeling tool that facilitates the design of hybrid power systems, which integrate storage, renewable and conventional energy sources. BOULDER, CO, March 2010 : The National Science Foundation grant was awarded to HOMER Energy under the auspices of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, which recognizes “high quality” science and engineering projects - including innovative software - “that could lead to significant commercial and public benefit” for U.S. Industry.
Peter Lilienthal, who was the original developer of the HOMER software at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and is now the CEO of HOMER Energy, said, “With this grant, we will provide our 40,000 current users with a new version that is both more powerful and easier to use. The result will be the design of lower-cost, lower-carbon, high-reliability power systems around the world.”
HOMER Energy has chosen to partner with Paul Komor, of the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Dr. Komor and his staff will use HOMER to research the implications of increased proportions of renewable energy in our power mix. This partnership fulfills the NSF’s mission to increase collaboration between small businesses and research institutions.
The HOMER software is a powerful tool for designing hybrid power systems. It simultaneously simulates multiple configurations to determine the most economical design. HOMER models grid-tied or off-grid energy systems that include conventional generators, cogeneration systems, wind turbines, solar photovoltaics, hydropower, batteries, fuel cells, hydropower, biomass and other inputs. HOMER helps determine the ways in which variable resources such as wind and solar can be integrated into hybrid systems that are required to provide reliable, 24/7 power.
About HOMER Energy
HOMER Energy is a privately held company located in Boulder, Colorado, which supplies software and services to the rapidly growing international renewable distributed energy market, forecast to be $80 billion by 2014. In 2009, HOMER Energy received a license from NREL to be the exclusive commercialization agent enhancing, supporting, and distributing the HOMER software worldwide. To date, HOMER has been downloaded by over 40,000 people in 193 countries worldwide, and gains a thousand new users every month. HOMER software is used by systems integrators, equipment manufacturers, utilities, facilities managers, governments and non-profit organizations to design hybrid power systems. HOMER is well-suited to analyzing a diverse set of distributed energy applications including grid-tied renewable and cogeneration systems and situations where the grid is insufficiently reliable or non-existent such as islands and remote communities. For more information about HOMER and to download the software, please visit www.homerenergy.com
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