HOMER Pro Foundations Student Training Guide
HOMER Pro Foundations Student Training Guide
HOMER Pro Foundations Student Training Guide
DO NOT DUPLICATE
Foundations of HOMER Pro: Student Training Guide
Welcome to Foundations of HOMER Pro. This course is intended to familiarize you with HOMER’s user interface
and the simulation-optimization-sensitivity analysis paradigm to allow you to begin using HOMER independently
for small systems. By the end of the Foundations course, you will have simulated a diesel generator system with
and without batteries for an isolated off-grid application, optimized the system design by adding solar panels,
explored the sensitivity of the optimal system design to interest rate and diesel fuel cost assumptions, and
explored the implications of 100% renewable systems. You will also design distributed solar+storage systems
interconnected with a utility grid. You will learn not only how to analyze these systems, but gain tools for
communicating their findings with others.
This guide is not intended to be a standalone course guide, but it provides a reference for the samples that we
will cover in class, and the topics covered by those samples.
Unless otherwise specified, use the default economic assumptions from the HOMER Pro library.
1. Location: Nairobi, Kenya
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Foundations of HOMER Pro: Student Training Guide
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Foundations of HOMER Pro: Student Training Guide
2. Component: Converter
a. Use the default cost assumptions from the HOMER Pro library.
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Max
annual
capacity Equivalent Equivalent Equivalent Equivalent
shortage hours days weeks months
0 --> 0 0 0 0
5 --> 438.00 18.25 2.61 0.608333333
10 --> 876.00 36.50 5.21 1.216666667
Select the PROJECT tap, Constraints, Maximum annual capacity shortage (%)
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2. Load: Add a blank load and input the following load profile
3. Load: Adjust the variability to get a 22.57kW peak load. Although it is not always needed, for this lesson
make the day-to-day and timestep variability values the same. Baseline peak is 16kW to be scaled to
22.57kW. The Average kWh/day is 184 has to be multiplied with (22.57/16) or 1.410625 to 259.555 for the
Peak to reach 22.57kW.
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If you’d like to start with a provided model instead of your own, you may use the “My Lesson B2.homer”
available in the files for this lesson.
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Results
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2. Component: Converter
a. Use the default cost assumptions from the HOMER Pro library.
b. Use the search space and size the converter to meet the peak, as shown in the lesson.
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3. Component: PV
Capital Replacement O&M
2500 2000 10
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a. Expand the Search Space for all components until you have confirmed that you have found the
optimal size. You should still adhere to the accuracy (granularity) listed above for each component.
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3. Component: Grid
a. Grid price: 0.2
b. Turn on Net metering with net purchases calculated monthly
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SAVE YOUR WORK! File->Save->My Lesson C1
Model PV so that annual PV production that exceeds local annual energy needs is sold at a different
price
Input different grid net excess prices
Examine impact of grid net express prices on net present cost
Understand the “maximum net grid purchase” constraint in HOMER
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2. Component: Generic 1 kWh Lithium Ion battery
a. Use the default cost assumptions from the HOMER Pro library.
b. Cost multipliers
Capital Replacement
1 1
0.5 0.5
0.1 0.1
3. Component: Converter
a. Use the default cost assumptions from the HOMER Pro library.
4. Economics: Nominal Discount Rate:
Nominal
discount rate
10
6
2
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Definitions
Autosize genset A generic generator that is set to be 110% of the peak load.
Bus A part of a power system that carries energy between components or to a
load. HOMER has four buses: AC, DC, Thermal, and Hydrogen.
Category (also A set of system designs with the same set if component types (e.g. diesel-only,
called system type) diesel+battery, solar PV fuel saver)
Category winner The lowest cost of energy system within a particular category.
Component A piece of equipment that produces and/or manages energy and power in
HOMER
Controller The set of hardware and sometimes software that controls the operation of a
power system
Converter A component that converts power between alternating current (AC) and DC
(direct current) parts of a system. This is a simplification that can represent
either an inverter (DC to AC), a rectifier (AC to DC), or a bidirectional inverter
Cost matrix HOMER’s input area where you specify the cost for a component’s capacities
Dmap 3-D graph showing one year of time series data, with time of day on the
vertical axis and day of the year on the horizontal axis. Each time step is
represented by a rectangle colored according to its data value. A variant of a
heat map.
Hybrid system A system that uses multiple component types to serve a load
Load The amount of power required at an end point. HOMER Pro manages 3 types
of loads – electric, thermal, and hydrogen. The term “load” used alone in
HOMER applies to an electric load, measured in kW per unit of time.
Load type The type of load being served. HOMER offers four basic load “types” for those
who do not have detailed data on how their load is distributed in time:
residential, commercial, industrial, and community (residential plus
commercial). See also: synthetic load, peak load, peak month
Microgrid or mini- An electric system that can autonomously use components to reliably serve a
grid load. Although the distinction can vary, a microgrid typically includes a grid
component, whereas a mini-grid typically does not (i.e. it is remote).
Net present cost A finance term representing the present value of all the costs of installing and
operating that component over the project lifetime, minus the present value
of all the revenues that it earns over the project lifetime. HOMER calculates
the net present cost of each component of the system, and of the system as a
whole.
O&M costs Operations and maintenance costs. The total cost associated with operating
and maintaining a particular component in a power system, usually on an
annual basis. For a grid-based system
Optimizer HOMER’s proprietary tool for numerically solving and finding the least-cost
system design
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OST Plot Optimal System Type Plot. A HOMER output plot that demonstrates how
system categories change over the range of values in a 2-dimensional
sensitivity analysis
Overall winner The lowest cost system of all systems that HOMER considered.
Peak load The maximum load for all time periods.
Peak month The month in which load is greatest. This is related to climate, and is used to
synthesize a load.
Schematic Diagram that shows the various components and loads that HOMER will
consider in a model, found in the upper-left of HOMER Pro’s design view
Search space The possible sizes/capacities for a component
Sensitivity variable An input that could be multiple values. In HOMER, these are inputs that the
designer cannot control, for example the price of fuel or the interest rate.
Synthetic load A load that is based on estimated, rather than measured, data. HOMER
provides tools to help users specify synthetic data to develop a full year’s load.
This is in contrast to imported or interval data.
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