HOMER Energy Software Updates Design and Simulation Tool for Microgrid Market
HOMER Energy announced a set of new features for its microgrid modeling software, HOMERⓇ Pro, which facilitates the simulation of hybrid renewable energy systems. Enhancements to HOMER Pro help users quickly model distributed energy systems and immediately understand main results.
In order to meet the demands of the growing microgrid industry, HOMER Energy released version 3.13 of HOMER Pro that serves an audience with diverse training and skills. The company says that the new version of the software makes it even easier to create models and evaluate results for renewable energy systems.
First, a new Welcome Screen highlights tools for getting started fast, including the Setup Assistant which lets users set up a HOMER simulation in just a few moments.
Along with the option to use default values, users can adjust inputs to reflect the individual characteristics of the systems they are modeling.
The Welcome Screen also highlights resources for new uses including pre-made sample files, and a tour of the software interface.
The new version of HOMER Pro also improves the Time Series Viewer, an essential feature that shows dozens of different data sets in graphic form. The Time Series Viewer gives instant visual cues of how a given distributed energy system is performing over the simulated year, such as when the various energy resources are deployed.
Now, users can save their favorite plot combinations for future references in different files and in different simulations. These new saving capabilities help new users quickly view the plot they need and creates a customized experience for analyzing projects.
Pre-set plots can also be leveraged and added to generate powerful, custom reports that can then be used as communication or sales tools.
Another usability improvement that highlights the most critical, high-level results is a "Summary Tab."
Along with critical economic metrics such as investment cost and payback time, the Summary Tab shows a graph that reveals the cash flow of the "winning" system compared with a baseline version, letting the user visually understand how the optimal system pays for itself.
HOMER Energy asserts that HOMER Pro continues to be the software of choice for the microgrid industry, and says that the improvements save new and established project developers time as they seek quick understanding of economic viability.
