A HOMER Grid alternative for European battery studies
If HOMER Grid doesn't fit your sites or your budget: what Zorowatt does differently, what it costs per year and how to move a site over.
HOMER Grid (UL Solutions) designs grid-connected systems with PV, wind, batteries and EV charging to cut bills and peak demand, with a tariff database for North America. Zorowatt is a browser tool for European business sites that rebuilds the bill under sourced Dutch, German and Romanian tariffs before it sizes the battery. (homerenergy.com)
Five reasons consultants pick it.
- 01
The bill is checked against the invoices
Zorowatt rebuilds the bill from the meter data and sets it against each invoice, line by line, before it sizes anything. None of the tools we compared says it does this (checked 30 October 2026).
- 02
Dutch, German and Romanian tariffs, with sources
The 2026 tariffs of Liander, Stedin, Enexis, NEW Netz, Netze BW, RheinNetz and the Romanian ANRE zones are built in, each linked to its source. US tools leave European tariffs to you, in dollars.
- 03
Batteries from any maker
A database of 44 commercial products, every spec with its source. The free tools of Sungrow, SMA, Huawei and Victron size their own hardware only.
- 04
Prices on the page, from €0
A free analysis and free tools that need no account; Starter at €49 a month. Furo, Tibo, Gridcog and Energy Toolbase show no price before a call.
- 05
In the browser, in your language
A year of quarter-hours is simulated in about a second, with nothing to install, in English, Dutch, German and Romanian. HOMER, PVsyst and PV*SOL run on Windows.
Price per year
- HOMER Grid
- Standard Annual $4,200 a year; Standard Monthly $665 a month ($7,980 a year)
- Zorowatt
- Starter €588 a year (€348 at the founding price) · Pro €1,788 a year for 3 seats · single analyses €15
As each vendor's page states it; prices in other currencies are not converted.
How to switch
Export the load as Green Button or a CSV with dates, or as HOMER's 8,760 hourly values: Zorowatt reads a year of values with no dates from 1 January.
- Upload the site's meter data to the free data checker or the Workspace: every assumption made reading the file is listed.
- Pick the site's tariff and enter the invoices: the bill check shows whether the baseline matches before anything is sized.
- Size the battery, compare it with your earlier study, and send the client the PDF report.
- When to pick HOMER Grid
- Pick HOMER Grid if your sites are in North America, where its built-in tariff database applies, or if you need wind, EV charging and a least-cost system design in one model.
- When to pick Zorowatt
- Pick Zorowatt if your sites are in the Netherlands, Germany or Romania and you want the bill rebuilt from the meter data under a sourced tariff and checked against the invoices, at a published monthly price.
Facts about the other tool read on 2026-10-28 from the pages linked in each cell. Prices and features change; check the vendor's page before you rely on one.
| Feature | Zorowatt | HOMER Grid |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free €0 · Starter €49 / month · Pro €149 / month · Enterprise on request | Standard Annual $4,200 / year (one user, auto-renewing); Standard Monthly $665 / month ($7,980 / year); Enterprise by quote. UL's price list shows a SHARED licence at $10,100 / yearhomerenergy.com, ul-renewables.com · 2026-10-28 |
| Tariffs | Versioned 2026 tariffs, each with its source: Netherlands (Liander, Stedin, Enexis, plus the ACM 2028 draft as a scenario), Germany (NEW Netz, Netze BW, RheinNetz, levies and Stromsteuer), Romania (ANRE zones). Any other country: a generic template where you enter the rates | Built-in tariff database covering much of North America, Mexico and Canadahomerenergy.com · 2026-10-28 |
| Bill reconstruction | Rebuilt from the meter data under a versioned tariff and set against the real bill, component by component | Energy cost computed under the chosen tariff; bill import not confirmed in the sources readhomerenergy.com · 2026-10-28 |
| Battery dispatch | Rule-based, with the optimal (LP) dispatch as the upper bound; every saving is billed by the same bill engine | Least-cost configuration of PV, wind, battery and EV charging, with demand-charge reduction as a value streamhomerenergy.com · 2026-10-28 |
| Solar | Planned solar modelled from PVGIS (EU Joint Research Centre) and laid on the meter data; existing PV is in the meter data (import and export) | PV modelled; production can be imported from HelioScope or PVsysthomerenergy.com · 2026-10-28 |
| Battery products | A database of commercial and industrial products, every spec with its source | Component libraryhomerenergy.com · 2026-10-28 |
| Financials | NPV, IRR and payback, with degradation | ROI and battery life modellinghomerenergy.com · 2026-10-28 |
| Client report | PDF report for the client; white-label on Pro | Customised, client-facing proposal reportshomerenergy.com · 2026-10-28 |
| Try before buying | First site analysis free, no card | Free trialhomerenergy.com · 2026-10-28 |
In short
HOMER Grid is the broader engineering model and has the North American tariff data. Zorowatt is narrower and built around European bills: check the meter data, rebuild the bill and set it against the invoices, then size the battery. For a US or Canadian portfolio HOMER Grid is the natural choice; for Dutch, German or Romanian sites Zorowatt starts from the tariff you would otherwise type in.
Try it on your own file first
Both tools run in the browser with no account; the file is not uploaded.
Meter data checker
Gaps, duplicates, daylight saving time, kW vs kWh and coverage in a meter export, before the study starts. No account, nothing uploaded.
Peak-shaving battery calculator
Battery size and payback for cutting a site's peak charges — from four numbers or your own load profile. No account, nothing uploaded.
Looking for a HOMER Grid alternative?
Zorowatt runs in the browser, reads the site's own meter data and rebuilds its bill before it sizes anything.
Switching?
Bring a site you already studied: upload its meter data and bills, and set the result next to your old one.