HOMER Modelling Using Solar PV

Raj Joseph Boligor

Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
University of San Carlos
Nasipit, Talamban, Cebu City
[email protected]
[email protected]
I. INTRODUCTION Step 2. Data Set
HOMER is a software that simulates operation of a system
Shown in the data (Figure 2) are the the load in kW in every
by creating energy balance calculations for each of the total
hour period.
hours in a year. In every hour, HOMER compares the electric
and thermal demand in the hour to the energy that the system
can supply in that hour, and calculates the flows of energy to
and from each component of the system. For systems that
include batteries or fuel-powered generators, HOMER also
decides for each hour how to operate the generators and whether
to charge or discharge the batteries [1].
HOMER performs these energy balance calculations for
each system configuration that you want to consider. It then
determines whether a configuration is feasible, i.e., whether it
can meet the electric demand under the conditions that you
specify, and estimates the cost of installing and operating the
system over the lifetime of the project. The system cost
calculations account for costs such as capital, replacement,
operation and maintenance, fuel, and interest [1].
II. OBJECTIVES Figure 2. Load Data.
The objectives of this experiment are: (1) to be able to
familiarize with the use of HOMER by creating a model using
the software; and (2) create an own model with the use of solar
PV or a combination of wind energy source.
III. METHODOLOGY
Step 1. Creating a New File from Scratch

Shown in Figure 1 are the equipment that are considered to

be used. In this paper the equipment that are considered to be
used with Primary Load are the PV, Converter, Generator and
Trojan L16P.

In HOMER, the term load is referred to as a demand for

electric or thermal energy. Micropower system exist because
there is a need to serve loads, hence the modeling of a
micropower system starts with the modeling of the load or loads
that the system must serve. HOMER models three types of
loads. Primary load is electric demand that must be served
according to a particular schedule. Deferrable load is electric
demand that can be served at any time within a certain time
span. Thermal load is demand for heat.

Figure 1. Equipment to Used.

Step 3. Information Based on the information gathered, the generator data is
inputed as shown below.
Shown in the figure below are the information used for different
components in the system.

 Generator

In order to supply a mid-sized home or business, a mini-

power plant must have a rating of atleast 25kW. And to have a
proper sizing of the generator. Based on Homer Pro 3.11, the
proper size range and estimated lifetime is as shown below. For
this project, the size of 20kW is which is not enough to supply
the demand of energy. And shown in Figure 3 is the Kubota
diesel generator that is used with a price of $4,900.00.

Table 1. Summary of how much electricity various power

generators can produce.

Figure 3. Generator Information

 PV Information

Table 2. Guideline for estimating the lifetime of certain types Information

of generators.

Figure 4. 10kW Solar PV.

A 10kW solar panel with $1.8/watt which means that

the price of the solar panel is estimated to be $18,000. Upon
calculation using the Homer, the possible sizes are as shown in
the figure below. According to engineering.com, Photovoltaic
(PV) modules typically come with 20 year warranties that
guarantee that the panels will produce at least 80% of the rated
power after 20 years of use. The general rule of thumb is that
panels will degrade by about 1% each year.

Figure 3. KUBOTA 20kW RV Diesel Generator.

 Figure 6. Converter Information
Figure 4. PV Information
 Diesel Resource Information
 Solar Resource Information

Figure 7. Diesel Resource Information

V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Upon inputting the necessary information for the system,
Figure 5. Solar Resource Information the simulation, optimization and sensitivity analysis were
followed.
 Converter Information
1. Simulation
The converter with a size of 6kW that is used costs $140 HOMER simulates the operation of a system by making
and has a life span of with a lifespan of 20 years. energy balance calculations for each of the 8,760 hours in a
year. For each hour, HOMER compares the electric and thermal
demand in the hour to the energy that the system can supply in
that hour, and calculates the flows of energy to and from each
component of the system. For systems that include batteries or
fuel-powered generators, HOMER also decides for each hour
how to operate the generators and whether to charge or
discharge the batteries [1].
HOMER performs these energy balance calculations for
each system configuration that you want to consider. It then
determines whether a configuration is feasible, i.e., whether it
can meet the electric demand under the conditions that you
Figure 6. Converter. specify, and estimates the cost of installing and operating the
system over the lifetime of the project. The system cost  Cash Flow
calculations account for costs such as capital, replacement,
operation and maintenance, fuel, and interest [1]. Click
Calculate as shown below to start the simulation.

2. Optimization Results
After simulating all of the possible system
configurations, HOMER displays a list of configurations,
sorted by net present cost (sometimes called lifecycle
cost), that you can use to compare system design options.

The optimization results show two results as listed above.  Electrical

3. Sensitivity Analysis
Sensitivity variables are defined as inputs; HOMER
repeats the optimization process for each sensitivity variable
that you specify. For example, if you define wind speed as a
sensitivity variable, HOMER will simulate system
configurations for the range of wind speeds that you specify.

Discussion:
Simulation Results for First Optimization Result:
 Cost Summary

Simulation Results for Second Optimization Result:

 Cost Summary
 Cash Flow fuel cost as compared to the optimization 1. And for the total
costs, it shows that the optimization 1 has lesser total cost with
$81,147.00 as compared to optimization 2 with a total cost of
$99,644.00. A difference of $18,497.00.
Cash Flow:
Optimization 1:

Optimization 2:

For the cash flow, it can be observed that the total net
present cost of optimization 1 is $81,147.00 while for
optimization 2 is $99,644.00. This is expected that optimization
1 will have higher NPC as compared to 2 because there is a need
of a rectifier for the PV of the first optimization which adds to
 Electrical the cost and results to higher operating cost of $4,965 per year
as compared to optimization 2 of only $4,965 per year.
Electrical:
Optimization 1:

Optimization 2:

Upon comparing the two, it can be observed that the cost

of production for optimization 1 is high as compared to
optimization 2, while there is also greater excess of electricity
VI. COMPARISON with 1,502 kWh/yr when compared to 538 kWh/yr. It can be
observed that the excess electricity is almost 3 times as
Cost Summary: compared to that of 3.26% of optimization 2 to 8.21% of
Optimization 1: optimization 1. But this is to note that the total production of
the optimization 1 is higher with 18,298 kWh/yr as compared
to 16,48900 kWh/yr of optimization 2.
Emissions:
Optimization 1:
Optimization 2:

In comparing the two optimizations, it can be observed that

for the optimization 1, there is PV used while for optimization
2, no PV is used. And by having PV, the optimization 1 has
higher system cost as compared to the optimization 2. But, it
can be observed that the replacement cost of the two
optimizations, the second one has higher cost as compared to
the first. It also has higher operation and maintenance cost and
Optimization 2:

By comparing the emissions produced by the two

optimizations, it can be said that the optimization 1 produces
less pollution as compared to optimization 1.
VII. CONCLUSION
From the two results, it can be said that there are
advantages and disadvantages in choosing among the two
optimizations. If you will look into the cost side, it would be
appropriate to use optimization 1. If you will look into the cash
flow, of course, the optimization 2 will be appropriate due to no
application of PV. When you look into the electrical side, the
excess electricity that is produced by optimization 1 is three
times compared to optimization 2. But taking into account that
the optimization 1 has greater production as compared to
optimization 2. Hence, it can be said that the difference of
excess electricity is not that really far. And if you will look into
the environmental side, the first optimization would best fit.
Similar to the sensitivity results, it is preferable to use the
optimization 1 due to the less total system cost, greater
production per year and its less emission of pollutants.
HOMER is very useful and primarily an economic model.
This is useful in comparing different combinations of
component sizes and quantities and as for the system created,
there were two results, these results were explored on how
variations in resource availability and system costs affect the
cost of installing and operating different system designs. Some
important technical constraints, including bus voltage levels,
intra-hour performance of components, and complex diesel
generator dispatch strategies are beyond the scope of an
economic model such as HOMER.

References
[1] http://homerusersgroup.ning.com
[2] http://support.homerenergy.com
[3] AGH University of Science and Technology
[4] https://www.generatorjoe.net/html/homeowners.html
[5]www.ebay.com/itm/KUBOTA-20-KW-RV-DIESEL-GENERATOR
[6] https://www.engineering.com/DesignerEdge