Planned communities as microgrid applications

The microgrid (MG), as an operational paradigm for the exploitation of distributed energy resources (DER), has been thoroughly studied the past few years. However, applications are largely limited to test sites and demo installations, lacking the business argument in favor of the wider deployment of the MG concept. Planned communities (PC), a residential development concept aiming to channel the population growth away from the overcrowded and polluted city centers, can serve as a business model for the application of the MG control architectures and philosophies. This paper intends to link the core characteristics of the PC to existing MG sites and installations, providing evidence of their suitability for MG development.