In terms of the energy technology options, the table below presents the energy sources and storage that each of the tools have. With these energy sources, Calliope, DERCAM and HOMER can include provision for thermal load. Furthermore, all of the tools have the option of grid connection. As discussed, this is an important feature because electrification can be through the grid extension or through an isolated energy system. While it is possible to find the optimal energy mix with and without the grid by running the optimization in the software with these two scenarios, REM inherently is able to answer this question in one optimization. It can provide the three alternatives of grid-extension, isolated micro-grids, and stand-alone systems.
