BH50A0220 Energy Systems 2023
Assignment 2 – Group work
For this task, you will create a microgrid project connected to a power grid using HOMER Pro. You
will use the various features of the tool to perform a project analysis.
Please note:
The use of HOMER Pro is mandatory. Instructions on how to install HOMER Pro can be found
on Moodle.
You will collaborate with the same group as Assignment 1 for this task.
Answer the open questions in each assignment section and use charts or screenshots from
HOMER Pro to support your answers.
Your assignment answers should be presented in a written report. You may also include a
video to support your project if you believe it will be beneficial. The assessment will
recognize creativity.
The deadline for submitting the report is April 9th.
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Mandatory requirements:
1. For simplicity, you will model a “single load” microgrid. You can choose any type of customer
load (Commercial, industrial, etc.), but remember that this choice will greatly impact your
system’s performance.
2. Whatever type of load you select, scale it appropriately, using HOMER Pro’s built-in features,
to a minimum of approximately 150 kW peak requirement.
3. Your project needs to be connected to the distribution grid. You need to select at least two
DER units.
4. In the general project settings, choose a project life of 20 years, and a discount rate of 10%.
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SECTION I – RESOURCES AND LOADS
1. Provide a summary of the climate and natural resources of your selected location. What
resources are significant in the area, and when are the peak months?
2. Explain the behavior of your electric load, including seasonal and daily patterns for both
weekdays and weekends.
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SECTION II – TARIFFS’ DEFINITION
Use HOMER Pro’s Advanced Grid module to build a time-of-use – TOU (or “scheduled”) tariff rate
structure with seasonal and day-of-the-week rate variations. Try to use realistic electricity prices. If
you include net metering in your project, choose a sellback rate that is 0.5x the value of the electric
rate for each rate period. Describe the overall tariff you built.
2
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SECTION III – DER SELECTION and SIZING
To set up your microgrid, select a variety of DER technologies and adjust your technical setup
using HOMER Pro's recommendations.
1. What is the DER technology mix of your microgrid? Please detail it with help from HOMER
Pro’s microgrid system design panel.
2. Explain the rationale behind your choice for these technologies, taking into consideration
the resource availability in your location and type of customer load in your microgrid.
3. Select two sensitivity variables that are relevant to your system.
After your DER mix is chosen, you will run your first microgrid simulations. To size your DER,
HOMER Pro can solve a constrained optimization, or run various DER capacity options within a
search space.
4. Run HOMER Pro simulations with both abovementioned options and describe how impactful
each was for the resulting DER sizing and capital costs of your microgrid. Settle for using
HOMER Pro’s optimization for solving DER sizing
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SECTION IV – RESULTS
1. Describe the DER architecture of the top three NPC-ranked microgrid results (use the tool’s
categorized view).
2. Rank your microgrid simulations based on LCOE , CAPEX , OPEX and explain whether this
changes, and why it changes (or doesn’t) your top categorized solution.
3. Discuss optimal DER mix alternatives, as function of the varying sensitivity variables, by
leveraging the capabilities of HOMER Pro’s Optimal System Type plot.
4. Go back to your top NPC-ranked solution and double-click to access the Simulation Results
tab then:
Provide a comprehensive analysis of the year-by-year discounted cash flows of your
project, both from component and cost type perspectives
What is the IRR of your “winning” project? Would you invest in it, judging from the
IRR metric’s decision rules?
What is the discounted payback of your “winning” project? How would you classify
this payback?
Open the time series plot. Choose a summer and winter day to zoom into (24h) and
describe the demand/supply operations of your microgrid in each of them.