Understanding the community in community microgrids: A conceptual framework for better decision-making

Abstract

A community microgrid comes with the introduction of non-conventional distributed renewable energy infrastructure, affecting the behaviour of community members and their relationship with energy. The aspects of ownership, trust, collaboration and its often-discursive structure will be reflected in the cultural and social factors, such as norms and values in a community. The success of specific community microgrids is widely dependent on the community's ability to engage in various activities connected to the microgrid installation and operation. This paper conceptualises existing literature on community microgrids, focusing on the representation and inclusion of community preferences, needs and behaviour across the development stages. From this analysis, a conceptual-theoretical framework is proposed based on social capital theory for identifying community characteristics to determine key needs and considerations for microgrid adoption. The framework is divided into four components: social capital, community capability, community type and microgrid impact. Social capital, including its dimensions such as structural, cognitive, and relational capital forms the foundation of the framework and serves to evaluate the community capability and determine its type, which in turn affects its impact on the community microgrid. Finally, we present an initial step in operationalising our conceptual framework as a practical tool to guide further research in the development of community microgrids. Ultimately, this research can benefit both academia and industry by providing a comprehensive and practical approach to understanding the importance of social factors in community microgrid success.