Microgrids - Solar

UL acquires microgrid design software company HOMER Energy

Today UL announced the acquisition of Boulder, Colorado-based HOMER Energy, a company that produces modeling and optimization software for microgrids. The acquisition combines UL’s experience in solar, wind and battery technology with HOMER Energy’s system design capabilities and distributed energy project database enabling UL to expand services across the renewable energy value chain.

HOMER Energy is a privately-owned company that provides training, advisory and analytic services, and community tools to industry, government, researchers, and enthusiasts in the energy industry. HOMER Energy software set the global standard for decision making concerning the optimal mix of resources, system configuration, and capital and operating costs of microgrids.  

The software began as a project within the U.S. Department of Energy and spun out in 2009 under the leadership of Dr. Peter Lilienthal, who is the current CEO.

Lilienthal released a statement to current HOMER energy subscribers in which he explained why he felt the time was right to sell.

For those without any power, the focus is on access. For those with very expensive power on islands and remote areas, the focus is on reducing diesel consumption.  For those worried about grid outages, the focus is on reliability and resilience. For the whole world, the focus is on reducing carbon emission, accommodating electric vehicles, and democratizing the power industry. Distributed generation and microgrids are the solution to all of these problems. We cannot think of a better partner than UL. Its acquisition of AWS Truepower in 2016 and now HOMER Energy demonstrate its dedication to the renewable energy industry.

– Peter Lilienthal


“The distributed energy market is a fast-growing segment of the renewable power industry,” said Jeff Smidt, vice president and general manager, UL’s Energy and Power Technologies division. “By combining our expertise in product testing certification and HOMER Energy’s expertise in system design capabilities, we will help customers along the microgrids value chain realize more value and reinforce UL’s mission to make the world a safer place.’’
 
HOMER Energy employees will join UL’s existing Energy and Power Technologies division.
 
The transaction closed on December 16, 2019. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Microgrids are on the agenda at DISTRIBUTECH International. See the educational offerings here. Register today!

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