Underwriters Laboratories (UL) has unveiled version 1.10 version of Homer Grid modelling software, developed to speed up and simplify designing renewable distributed energy-plus-storage powered electric vehicle (EV) charging stations.

With the rapid rise of EVs, energy project developers, engineering firms and EV charging station providers increasingly need to evaluate a proposed charging station’s costs, revenue and performance in the project feasibility stage.

Homer Grid 1.10 lets users rapidly calculate potential EV charging revenue based on user-defined charging prices and the costs of supplying electricity from the grid or using on-site renewable generation and storage. These features join Homer Grid’s modelling of on-demand fast charging and managed or deferrable smart mode charging when time-of-use energy rates are lowest.

The software enables project developers to reduce the time and uncertainty of evaluating the RoI of a proposed, site-specific, renewable energy-plus-storage powered charging station, increase the project’s value, and demonstrate that value to customers.

Modelling results can also help speed the permitting process, reduce the time from quote to construction, and provide cost-savings and revenue generation data that mitigate project risk and may result in better financing terms.

Databases for electric loads, utility tariffs, incentives, demand response programmes, solar irradiance and other weather data are integrated into Homer Grid, allowing developers to analyse the feasibility of a prospective location and powering system configuration and compare multiple sites quickly.

“With Homer Grid, developers can determine the best and least-cost system to power a charging station in minutes,” said Parangat Bhaskar, UL product manager. “Using the software’s sensitivity analysis engine, they can assess the interplay of real-life variables, like day-to-day fluctuations in charging demand and time-of-use electricity rates. Developers can confidently forecast revenue and RoI, which helps all stakeholders understand the project’s full value and speed up decision-making.”

To perform the analysis, Homer Grid runs thousands of simulations, optimising scenarios for multiple complex variables within minutes, including electric loads, utility tariffs, time-of-use charges, incentive programmes, grid-power outages, local generation and battery storage, capital expenditures, operating costs and payback periods for solar, and determines the least-cost option.

Designers can perform robust forecast analysis, increase the revenue and RoI, reduce the impact on the power grid, lower risks by identifying high-probability scenarios and explicitly modelling worst-case scenarios, and provide their customers with EV charging revenue projections.

“Ultimately, information is power,” Bhaskar said. “Homer Grid helps minimise uncertainty with simulation results and thus may help increase stakeholders’ confidence in the feasibility of a proposed EV charging station. Homer Grid may assist with projects being developed faster and more efficiently, with potentially more predictable outcomes.”

EV sales are projected to rise steeply, and the federal government and private sector are investing in building EV charging infrastructure. However, the successful adoption of EVs on the expected scale will require access to reliable charging stations nationwide.

“It’s not as easy as deciding to add EV charging to your parking lot and doing it,” said Bhaskar. “The increased electric load will likely exceed the existing power grid’s capability to supply this new and complex load type safely and sustainably. And upgrading the grid is a long, costly undertaking. Customers foot the bill for such costly upgrades in many ways, including huge jumps in demand charges. The solution lies in building renewable energy microgrids or other distributed energy resources (DERs) to power charging stations and minimising the impact on the local grid. Homer Grid enables the firms that will provide those charging stations to do so successfully and with confidence. Research has shown that a successful EV charging experience drives up the charging customer’s loyalty to that business.”

Other updates in Homer Grid 1.10 include the addition of California’s new NEM 3.0 net energy metering tariffs, which strengthen incentives for solar-plus-storage systems in that state. Additionally, Homer Grid lets users import project production data from other design software. An enhancement enables users to import multiple data files from multiple solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays, for example, to be combined into a single energy modelling project in 1.10.

With recently updated utility tariffs, Homer Grid (www.homerenergy.com) software integrates more than 90% of tariffs from the USA, Mexico and Canada. The software also allows the creation of custom tariffs, enabling more accurate modelling of energy project costs as utility pricing continues to evolve.

It is built on the Homer platform, developed at the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Homer software has completed over 250,000 project calculations in more than 190 countries, distributed across thousands of active companies.

UL (www.ul.com) delivers testing, inspection and certification services, together with software products and advisory offerings, that support product innovation and business growth. The UL Certification Marks serve as a recognised symbol of trust in products.