Features

iHOGA / MHOGA is a software for the simulation and optimization of hybrid electric systems based on renewable energies, stand-alone (off-grid) or grid-connected systems.

It can simulate and optimize electricity supply systems (minimizing the net present cost) or power generation systems (maximizing the net present value).

  • iHOGA is for systems from few W up to 5 MW power.
  • MHOGA is for MW power systems, without any limit.

MHOGA has exclusive features which are not in iHOGA:

  • Primary frequency control (FCR).
  • Capacity market incomes.
  • You can define wind turbines or a wind farm with 16 power vs wind speed curves, one for each wind direction sector (from 0º to 337.5º in steps of 22.5º). This way the wind generation will depend not only on the wind speed but also on the wind direction (interpolating in the curves for both inputs).
  • You can import wind generation from a real wind turbine or farm in hourly or minutes steps and use it as input for the wind turbines generation.
  • You can import PV generation from a real PV generator in hourly or minutes steps and use it as input for the PV generation.
  • In maximization of NPV or minimization of LCOE projects (grid-connected generating systems), the constraing of maximum land use is only available in MHOGA.

More info in the user manuals (download area).

iHOGA software uses advanced models for the components (including variable efficiencies and advanced battery ageing models) and also for the control strategies, being able to realize simulations of the behavior of each system much more precise than other softwares.

Optimization is the minimization of total system costs (or maximization of profits) over the system lifetime, transferred or updated to the initial moment of the investment (Net Present Cost, NPC or Net Present Value, NPV). That is, in general the optimization is economic (mono-objective).

The program also allows multi-objective optimization, where not only the minimization of costs is considered, but also the simultaneous minimization of other variables that the user selects (equivalent CO2 emissions and/or unmet load). Since both objectives (cost and emissions or unmet load) are in many cases contradictory, when the system performs the multi-objective optimization it does not reach a single solution, but provides a wide range of solutions, some with better behavior in terms of emissions or unmet load, others with better behavior in terms of costs.

iHOGA / MHOGA allows the automatic download of NASA’s web of irradiation, wind and temperature data, and also the download of hourly data from PVGIS (European Union) or Renewables Ninja.

The elements that can compose the hybrid system are:
• Photovoltaic panels (bifacial and concentrating CPV included)
• Wind Turbines
• Hydraulic turbine, with or without pumped hydro storage (PHS)
• Fuel cell
• H2 tank
• Electrolyzer
• Batteries (lead-acid or li-ion), with the optimization of the grid management.
• Battery Charge Controller
• Inverter (DC/AC converter), rectifier (charger, AC/DC converter) or inverter/charger (including inverter, rectifier and controller)
• AC backup generator (diesel or any other).

iHOGA also includes low power thermoelectric generator (TEG, Seebeck effect).

Although the combination of all of them is possible, in many cases it will be interesting that the hybrid system only includes some of them.

iHOGA / MHOGA includes an extensive database of the different components. Economic calculations are very accurate and can be done in any currency.

The load (consumption) of the system can be:
• AC electrical load.
• DC electrical load.
• Hydrogen load (production of H2 for off-site consumption, for example to power electric vehicles based on fuel cells).
• Water consumption from a supply tank, water that will be previously pumped by an electric pump from a well or river to the tank.

Simulations can be performed in time steps of between 1 and 60 minutes. We can see the screen of the simulation of each combination of components and control strategy considered, and we can save the simulation data in Excel format.

We can also consider to sell electrical power to the AC grid, to buy the unmet load to the AC grid, as well as to sell the surplus hydrogen produced in the electrolyzer and stored in the tank.

In AC grid connected systems, when renewable sources can not supply all the energy demanded by the load, the supply of the remaining energy can be prioritized by the AC network or by the batteries/generator.

You can simulate installations of renewable energy without load consumption and connected to the AC grid and study their economic viability. The sale to the AC grid can be of all the excess energy (energy that cannot be used by the system) or considering Net Metering scheme (different modalities are available).

The program optimizes both the combination of elements and the system control (which determines when to use one batteries or diesel generator, to what state of charge the batteries must be charged, …).

It can also be considered the case of batteries connected to the AC grid and/or PHS, optimizing the periods of charging or pumping (purchase of electricity from the AC grid) and discharging or generating electricity by the hydro turgine (supplying the load consumption and even injecting energy into the AC grid to sell it).

In generating systems (maximizing NPV systems), there is the option of injecting energy to the AC grid by means of the fossil fuel generator (diesel, gas…), trying to maximize the capacity factor.

Green H2 generating systems can also be considered, with the optimization of the energy management.

iHOGA / MHOGA performs a detailed report of each combination of components considered, in addition to an economic report with the cash flows.

No other hybrid system simulation and optimization software uses advanced optimization algorithms except iHOGA / MHOGA, which uses genetic algorithms. Other programs perform optimization by testing all possible combinations. One problem with this methodology is that if the number of possible combinations is very high, the calculation time increases enormously and becomes unfeasible. In addition, in other software system control strategies are too simple, and no in-depth optimization is possible as in iHOGA / MHOGA. Other advantages of this software are in the models used, more precise than other softwares, in the components as well as in the economic calculations, besides functionalities like the pre-sizing, the optimization of the slope of the photovoltaic panels, the probability analysis, the ageing models of the batteries (Lead-acid or li-ion), the multi-objective optimization, etc.

You can get more info in the User Manual. There is also available a Getting Started guide to learn to use the software (download area).