With the right guidance, anything is possible. Whether you’re designing a microgrid in Nepal, modeling energy storage in Greenland, or creating a system template for Micronesian islands, projects aren’t quite as daunting with the support of a knowledgeable training team.

Aleph Baumbach—Senior Engineer, Head of Professional Services, and Lead Trainer for HOMER Energy by UL—explains that HOMER’s educational curriculum covers all of the skills needed to analyze distributed generation and microgrid projects. Sessions are specifically tailored to address each group’s needs and support individual projects.

In the past 5 years, Baumbach has led over 250 sessions in more than 100 countries. He explains that he and his team focus on customizing the experience and engaging every participant on his or her own level.

Aleph Baumbach, Senior Engineer, Head of Professional Services, and Lead Trainer for HOMER Energy by UL, en route to a remote glacier in Alaska. | Photo credit: Aleph Baumbach

“It’s important for us to balance training sessions and accommodate all levels of individuals from different backgrounds, with varied interests—from finance to policy and engineering.”

Dual degrees in engineering and psychology help him balance the technical and teaching aspects of his role; and the happiness he derives from working with people to create global good is apparent. In fact, his eyes light up when he talks about facilitating the renewable energy transition.

In Belize, a country that imports most of its energy from Mexico, he helped government officials develop a 25-year plan to become 100% energy-independent. In the Solomon Islands, he consulted with engineers to develop a model of a renewable-based system that enabled them to replicate on hundreds of islands to provide energy access to remote communities. In Patagonia, he helped engineers power wilderness conservation projects with micro-hydro, PV, wind, and energy storage.

“This work has a much bigger purpose and I love that,” Baumbach says. “I think it’s incredibly powerful to show communities, governments, and utilities that there’s a better path to sustainability. In each training session, I do my best to provide them with the tools to achieve that.” 

The training program offers two core options for learning HOMER – a 6-hour intensive “Foundations of HOMER” course and a 2.5-hour “Introduction to HOMER” course for those who may not need to use HOMER on a regular basis, but want to understand its basic functionality. Training experts are able to address any system modeling issues and technical questions through these customized educational sessions.

The “Foundations of HOMER” course familiarizes participants with HOMER’s user interface and the simulation-optimization-sensitivity analysis paradigm. The objective is to enable participants to use  HOMER independently to model small systems. This session lays the fundamental groundwork for users to explore more advanced topics with HOMER such as using multiple generators, designing for high renewable penetration, making decisions about grid extensions to remote areas, understanding how to best work with HOMER’s advanced storage modeling, and more.

Join HOMER Energy by UL's training team for courses that will help you unlock the power of your software. Courses are available for individuals or organizations. Click here to learn more about these training opportunities.

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