Advanced Storage Module

The Advanced Storage Module unlocks the Modified Kinetic Battery Model in HOMER. The Modified Kinetic Battery Model (MKBM) includes rate dependent losses, changes in capacity with temperature, variable depth-of-discharge for cycle life, and increased degradation rate at higher temperatures. With the Advanced Storage Module, you can create new batteries that use the MKBM, add such batteries to your HOMER models, and calculate results for HOMER models that include a battery with this model.

Details

The MKBM is designed for practicality. Although the inner workings of the model are somewhat complex, the parameters needed to design a battery with the MKBM are relatively simple. Users who have purchased the Advanced Storage Module can create their own advanced storage components. Many battery datasheets include all the necessary information.

The MKBM includes a series resistance to the battery model, which improves model accuracy. For some batteries, in some conditions, this improvement can be large.

The MKBM also includes variation in capacity with temperature. For example, many batteries show a decrease in available capacity at cold temperatures.

The Advanced Battery Module becomes more powerful when combined with the Multi-year module. When HOMER is run in Multi-year mode, the Modified Kinetic Battery Model includes performance degradation over the battery lifetime. This degradation calculation tracks temperature, time, and partial depth of discharge cycles over the course of the simulations.