Product: HOMER Grid HOMER Grid is not set up to model demand response - the only ways to manipulate your load are to redefine your load, or to do a sensitivity analysis to scale your load. However, HOMER Grid can account for coincident peak demand (CPD) in the scenario that you'd like to install ESS, which will reduce demand during the defined ti

Click on the Library icon at the right corner of the window to select the component type that you would like to modify or create. How to create a new component Select ‘Create a new component using the following template’ to create a new component as shown below. Once you have added the information to the fields, click on ‘Copy’. How

Product: HOMER Grid 1.1.1 Can we create customized incentives? Yes, you can create customized incentives. Currently, there are three Templates for incentives: Capacity -based incentives (kW or kWh for storage), Capital-based incentives ($), and Production-based incentives (kWh). Will HOMER Grid have the Massachusetts Solar SMART incentives avai

Product: HOMER Grid 1.1.1 Can we create customized loads? Yes, there are several ways to customize a load. The best option is to Import your meter's interval data. If you don't have meter data, there is the option to build up and customize a synthetic load (ex: 'Blank' synthetic load) OR there is the option to use one of the loads from OpenEI.

Product: HOMER Grid 1.1.1 Can we customize for our needs or clients' needs with customized reports? Yes, there are two different reporting mechanisms that you can use. There is an 'Optimization Report' which can give you an overview and compare the 'winning' systems. There is also a "Simulation Report" which is more customizable and can give you

Product: HOMER Grid This article describes how to ensure Daylight Savings Time (DST) corresponds appropriately to your time series and tariff file. The tariff builder asks for the time-zone, for which the tariff should apply so that the tariff can make the Daylight Savings Time (DST) jump appropriately. The timeseries is a list of numbers, s

HOMER Grid is a robust, powerful tool for optimizing the value of behind-the-meter, distributed generation systems, especially when demand charges and energy arbitrage matter. This article is a quick guide to help you get started with your first project. The quickest way to get up and running with HOMER Grid is with the Wizard. Click ‘Start Wizard

Product: HOMER Grid 1.1.1 Where can I set the grid sellback rate in HOMER Grid? If you're using a tariff from the database, the sellback rates are modeled within the tariff, but there are no easy ways for you to see what exactly this sellback rate is. Currently, you can only indirectly see that there's sellback based on the results. We're workin

Product: HOMER Grid Grid charges can be categorized into energy charges, demand charges and fixed charges. Energy charge is the cost ($/kWh) of consumption. Demand charge is the cost ($/kW) of demand. Demand charges are the utility’s way of discouraging sudden spikes in demand. Peak shaving or demand charge reduction aims to reduce a customer's el

Product: HOMER Grid version 1.4 Click on a feature or improvement listed below for more detailed information. Multi-year Dispatch Log Improved time series viewer Summary Tab ​ Multi-year allows users to consider the impact of a growing load, utility price escalation, battery degradation, and more on their recommended system si

Product: HOMER Grid 1.1.1 In HOMER Grid, utility component does not seem to have the Purchase Capacity option like Pro. How would I study a Peak Shaving case with HOMER Grid? HOMER Grid's optimizer finds the most economic demand limit for each month, and separately if needed for on-and off- peak times. HOMER Pro allows you to simply set a dema

Product: HOMER Grid HOMER Grid can currently model only one generator at a time. To size the generator, select one of the generators that include "(size your own)" in the name. To delete your generator, click the (X) button in the upper right corner.

Product: HOMER Grid 1.2 In HOMER Grid, you might find that a Genability tariff you want to use is not complete. For example, it might refer to only one part of the electricity bill like the transmission and distribution structure. You might find that you need to combine this tariff with your own generation rate(s). Follow these steps to achieve t

Product: HOMER Grid 1.1.1 The engine calculates the fraction of battery energy that came from renewable sources after the simulation is completed. It uses that fraction to calculate the ITC and MACRS incentives. -If you have below 75% of the charging energy from renewables, you get 7-year MACRS and no ITC -If you have above 75% of the ch

Product: All versions of HOMER Grid Which peak demand charge regimes are included? The peak demand can be calculated monthly, on an annual basis, or some function of the two. So, for example, if your demand charge was based on the greater charge of either the previous month or the previous year, HOMER Grid can account for that. It also include

Product: All versions of HOMER Grid What type of optimization model are you using? The dispatch algorithm uses a 48-hour predictive optimization. Based on the coming 48 hours' electrical/thermal demand, the solar production, and the cost of the electricity from the utility, the dispatch will make the economically optimal choice.

Product: HOMER Grid 1.5.2 How can I prohibit sellback to the utility? Enter 0 as your Grid Sale Limit, and it will ensure that nothing is being sold or sent back to the grid.

Product: HOMER Grid 1.5.2 What does "resilience" mean in HOMER Grid? How do I model grid outages in HOMER Grid? Resilience, in the most general sense, is the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. In the case of HOMER Grid, we are referring to the ability of a design to continue electrical service when there is a major utility disruption.

Product: HOMER Grid 1.1.1 Does this model also optimize for grid services, e.g., primary reserve, secondary reserve, or others? HOMER Grid doesn't do these things effectively yet, because it is focused on reducing a utility bill through demand charge reduction, energy arbitrage, or maximizing self-consumption. We're aspiring to develop into a mor

Product: HOMER Grid 1.2.1 In order to better understand the calculations inside HOMER Grid, let's walk through a simplified example. The file we are using in this example is “Peak Shaving Simple Example.hgrid”. First, we will walk through the model inputs. Next, we will take a closer look at the utility bill calculation, the peak shaving algorithm

Product: HOMER Grid v1.2 and v1.3 If you have created a model in 1.2, then it is likely that your results will change when you recalculate in HGrid 1.3. When you open a model in 1.3 that was created in 1.2.8, you will get the suggestion to “Recalculate Results” as shown below. The possible reasons for change in results for this could be: Ch