Community Demand Research Articles

Problems of Good Governance in Managing Indonesia’s Borderland: The Case of Entikong Subdistrict

The present study explores the good governance processes of border management in Entikong Subdistrict. The Entikong Subdistrict in West Kalimantan is a priority district that receives special attention from Indonesian central and local governments. The Entikong border post started operating in 1989, making it the first land border in Indonesia. Nevertheless, despite its aged history and many development efforts within the area, the economic growth and welfare of the border community remained stagnant. The data for this article were collected through a field work in Entikong for four months in 2022 in which we conducted observation, interviews, and focus group discussion with local residents and government officers. This study reveals that good governance became the focal issue explaining Entikong’s lack of development by providing two problems in the border development at Entikong: 1) the government’s inconsistency on the road widening project and 2) the complexity of governance and bureaucracy. This paper further elaborates on the essence of locality in good governance practices while simultaneously addressing the authority division problems and communication towards the demands of the local community. This study argues that better public communication patterns should be implemented to avoid misunderstandings within the community and increase the participation of local citizens, government, and civil society in the development process of the border area.

Robots in Public Libraries: An Empirical Analysis of Current Applications and Future Opportunities

ABSTRACT The paper investigated the current application of robots in public libraries with specific consideration of its future opportunities. Three (3) objectives guided the conduct of the study. The study employed a qualitative research approach. The population for the study comprised librarians who have been certified by the Librarian Registration Council of Nigeria (LRCN) and worked at public library boards. Thematic analysis and content analysis techniques were adopted for this study. The study found that robots bring various advantages, including increased operational efficiency and streamlined access to information, as well as interactive educational opportunities and heightened user involvement. The findings indicate that embracing robotic technology enables public libraries to establish more accessible, dynamic, and user-focused environments, fostering an atmosphere of innovation and technological progress within the realm of information services. It could be concluded that the integration of robots in public libraries plays a vital role in modernizing and improving library services to meet the evolving demands of library users and communities. However, library stakeholders must address potential obstacles, including financial limitations, technological preparedness, and user acceptance. Prioritizing the training of staff, fostering community involvement, and establishing clear policy frameworks enables public libraries to effectively navigate the challenges related to incorporating robotics, ensuring a smooth transition toward a technologically advanced and user-focused library environment.

Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning for Smart Community Energy Management

This paper investigates a Local Strategy-Driven Multi-Agent Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (LSD-MADDPG) method for demand-side energy management systems (EMS) in smart communities. LSD-MADDPG modifies the conventional MADDPG framework by limiting data sharing during centralized training to only discretized strategic information. During execution, it relies solely on local information, eliminating post-training data exchange. This approach addresses critical challenges commonly faced by EMS solutions serving dynamic, increasing-scale communities, such as communication delays, single-point failures, scalability, and nonstationary environments. By leveraging and sharing only strategic information among agents, LSD-MADDPG optimizes decision-making while enhancing training efficiency and safeguarding data privacy—a critical concern in the community EMS. The proposed LSD-MADDPG has proven to be capable of reducing energy costs and flattening the community demand curve by coordinating indoor temperature control and electric vehicle charging schedules across multiple buildings. Comparative case studies reveal that LSD-MADDPG excels in both cooperative and competitive settings by ensuring fair alignment between individual buildings’ energy management actions and community-wide goals, highlighting its potential for advancing future smart community energy management.

The French-language translated book of Russia of the second third of the 18th century: features of the repertoire and importance for book culture

Importance. The beginning of the process of interaction between Russian and French book cultures was laid by the era of the Europeanisation of Peter I. The Russian autocrat tirelessly sought to bring his country among the leading countries of the world, to smooth out the difference between Russia and the West. The nobility, the most educated stratum of society at that time, was to become the main conductor of the reformer’s advanced aspirations. The aim of the research is to study the significance for the Russian book culture of the French–language translated book of the second third of the 18th century.Materials and Methods. The comparative historical method makes it possible to establish the correlation of the role of French literature in the distribution of printed materials in the Russian Empire. The use of the comparative analysis method, which made it possible to comprehensively study the role of foreign literature in the bookselling process in the Russian Empire of the 18th century, plays an important role in the study.Results and Discussion. The inclusion of a work in the publishing list was conditioned by the community demand, which allows us to speak about the development of the book culture of Russia in the second quarter of the 18th century. In order to capture readers’ mood better, the specialists of the Academy of Sciences found out the specialists’ opinion about publications.Conclusion. By the middle of the 18th century, the Academy of Sciences had prepared translations of valuable treatises on history, literature, mathematics, psychology and pedagogy, enriching Russian book culture with advanced European bestsellers. This period of the Academy’s activity should be regarded as a new stage in the development of book printing in Russia, which created significant prerequisites for the rapid rise of interest in French culture in the second half of the 18th century.

Optimal energy generation of hybrid energy systems considering economic and environmental multi-objective functions

This research is dedicated to exploring and identifying the most effective design for an energy source tailored specifically to meet the electricity demands of a residential community. In an era where energy efficiency and sustainability are paramount, this study emphasizes the importance of both technical and economic considerations in energy sourcing. It posits that any viable solution must not only be efficient in its energy production and consumption but also reliable in its delivery and financially feasible for the residents who will depend on it. To address this multifaceted challenge, the study proposes the innovative use of a rotation-invariant coordinate convolutional neural network in conjunction with binary battle royale optimization techniques. These advanced methodologies are selected for their potential to enhance the modelling and optimization processes involved in energy source design. The primary goal of employing these methods is to minimize two critical factors: the net present cost of the energy system and the overall energy cost incurred by the residents. By focusing on these objectives, the research aims to ensure that the proposed energy solutions are not only cost-effective but also sustainable over the long term. To rigorously test the proposed model and evaluate its performance, the research is conducted using the MATLAB platform. The study employs established methodologies and performance metrics to assess the outcomes of the model, ensuring that the findings are both credible and applicable to real-world scenarios. Through comprehensive testing and detailed analysis, this research aims to provide significant insights and actionable recommendations for the optimal design of energy sources in residential areas. By contributing to the ongoing discourse on sustainable energy solutions, the study seeks to inform policymakers, energy planners, and community stakeholders about effective strategies for meeting residential energy demands while promoting environmental sustainability. Ultimately, the findings of this research could play a crucial role in shaping the future of energy sourcing in residential communities, paving the way for more resilient and sustainable energy systems

Ground-breaking approach to enabling fully solar renewable energy communities

Renewable Energy Communities are an important strategy of the EU, to promote and optimize the distributed deployment of renewable generation systems. At current incentives and costs, RECs that share the energy produced by PV/battery systems are expected to take the lion's share of distributed generation. In this paper, we highlight some important critical issues in electric system management that could result from the deployment of RECs if PV/battery system generation cannot meet the entire community demand. Thus, we show how a flexible PV system (PV/battery systems able to provide firm/dispatchable generation) can be cost-effectively dimensioned to supply 24/365 96%–97 % of the demand of a residential users' community. We demonstrate that flexible PV systems of 1/10 MWp with 1.2/12 MWh of storage capacity can supply communities of 142/1420 residential users at a least production cost of 0.12/0.096 €/kWh. We further provide two business models based on power purchase agreement to demonstrate that, at these production costs, fully solar RECs are currently techno-economically feasible and provide mutual benefits to both flexible PV producers and REC members. Suitable virtual corporate PPAs can reduce the electric bill of the REC members by 11%–5% without requiring any investments and increase the producer incomes by 18%–22 %.

Household demand for community- and rooftop-solar electricity: conceptual and numerical assessments

ABSTRACT This paper characterizes the trade-offs faced by households in deciding how much solar power to produce privately on their rooftops or to subscribe to in a community solar project (or, ‘green electricity plan’), and how these trade-offs are influenced by a regulator's pricing scheme. We characterize a model where representative households choose their rooftop and community-solar consumption levels and respond to the regulator's scheme. Within the model's conceptual and numerical frameworks, we derive a suite of household comparative static effects and explore four key implications pertinent to the growth of rooftop and community solar within a given community: (1) the extent to which the regulator must adjust its pricing scheme to achieve a community-wide solar electricity standard, (2) the potential of a ‘death spiral’ experienced by the regulator, (3) the effect of a ‘solar tax’ levied by the regulator on the production of solar electricity by rooftop-solar households, and (4) adoption of ‘behind-the-meter’ battery storage by rooftop-solar households. We obtain both analytical and numerical results for each of these implications, enabling us to better understand the underlying conditions governing a representative household's responses to incentives provided by a regulator, and the social implications of these responses.

The assessment of low flow at El Abid river basin for a good management of water resource (High Atlas/Morocco)

Abstract In a scenario where pressures on aquatic ecosystems and the water demands of communities are on the rise, coupled with the impacts of global changes, understanding low water flows becomes a critical concern. Low flow is characterized as a natural and seasonal phenomenon, typically stemming from varying degrees of prolonged and severe rainfall deficits. This phenomenon is prone to temporal and spatial fluctuations, ultimately causing a reduction in streamflow. The El Abid River Basin is located within the big Oum Er Rbia watershed, covering an area of 30.600 km2. El Abid river stands out as the principal tributary of the Oum Er Rbia, boasting an average annual flow of 32 m3/s−1, with a maximum average flow reaching 77 m3/s−1 and a minimum average flow of 10 m3/s−1. The hydrological regime of this river exhibits a pattern of intermittent and extreme floods, as well as periods of low flow sustained by water from the karst hydrosystems of the central High Atlas. The aim of this study is to characterize the low flow rates within the upstream part of El Abid river basin, intending to enhance the management of water resources in this basin. The methodology employed involves extracting the minimum flows, calculating the severity thresholds for low flow, determining the lowest average monthly flow of the year, computing low flow rates based on monthly flow averages, and calculating low flow values for specific return periods. Monthly discharge data from two hydrometric stations within our study area, namely Ait Ouchéne and Tizi Nisly, were utilized. The dataset spans the period from 1976 to 2018.

Exploring knowledge and uses of Moringa oleifera and understanding its cultivation constraints and proposed solutions: a case from Bangladesh

Multipurpose trees, like the moringa (Moringa oleifera Lam.), have become extremely popular in an attempt to reduce food, nutritional, and economic instability. The significant benefits of moringa’s leaves, pods, seeds, roots, and flowers are used in a wide range of commercial fields, including medicine, cosmetics, food, animal feed, water purification, and more. We applied a questionnaire-based survey to reveal the uses, problems and solutions related to the knowledge, uses and constraints of moringa in the region of Chapainawabganj and Kushtia districts in Bangladesh. Including the easiest propagation process and the lowest cultivation costs, year-round flowering, and production provide moringa with a wide window of opportunity. Besides using regular pruning of moringa branches, respondents make trees bushy to increase fruit and leaf production. Respondents from both regions opined that moringa has a good market value, increases family income, increases opportunity for fallow land utilization, enhances employment opportunities, and is known as a nutritive and multipurpose tree. We were pleased to find that moringa output regularly exceeded previous production records in Bangladesh from 2014–16 to 2020–21. Furthermore, our survey shows that a 5-year-old moringa tree provides a satisfactory yield per season with its high market price and demand. Despite the extensive use of moringa fruits and leaves by respondents, its commercial potential remains largely undeveloped and unknown to them. Constraints like limited scientific knowledge and technological infrastructure are the reasons why the elusive potential of moringa in Bangladesh persists. There is ample opportunity to enhance moringa production via effective management techniques, which will satisfy community demand and create market opportunities both locally and internationally. As a result, smallholder farmers’ livelihoods and food and nutritional security can be improved.

How tourists ‘escaping the heat’ may drive future increases in municipal water demand in Oregon coastal communities

Little is known about the effect of future weather and climate on municipal water demand in coastal communities with tourist-centric economies. To address this knowledge gap, we used an econometric model of monthly water demand that allowed for non-linear responses to weather variables to estimate temperature-response functions for demand from a sample of communities in the Oregon Mid-Coast. A main result is that local temperature was not a significant driver of variability in monthly water demand but that temperature in the Willamette Valley—the source of most tourists to the Oregon coast—was. We assumed that the increase in demand in response to higher Willamette Valley temperature arose from an increase in tourists escaping the heat in the Willamette Valley for cooler conditions on the coast. Applying the temperature response functions to scenarios of future climate to the year 2070 led to projected increases in water demand independent of other factors. Whether future tourism is either constrained by the local resident population that serves tourism or is constrained by the potential tourist population in the Willamette Valley, the climate-change contribution to projected water demand is generally of comparable magnitude to—if not greater than—the contribution from resident population change alone over the next 50 years. For communities where the population is projected to decline, the climate effect may more than offset the effect of declining population, resulting in a net positive change in demand.

Educational communities of rural schools in the arctic (on the example of the Murmansk oblast): A social justice perspective on inclusion

The article addresses the current problem of searching and substantiating mechanisms for the development of inclusive education. The research relevance is also determined by the Arctic context, which corresponds to the epistemological need of modern interdisciplinary knowledge in the development of inclusive education, the priorities of state policy, as well as to the expectations and demands of regional communities. The authors aim to study social interactions within rural schools in the Arctic from the standpoint of inclusion as an indicator of social justice (on the example of the Murmansk Oblast). To that end, rural schools are modelled and described based on the developed criteria. Difficulties experienced by the teachers in the course of inclusive educational process, including when using distance technologies, are typified. According to the results obtained, typical models of rural schools in the Murmansk Oblast include suburban schools and remote schools and their following variants: the school as a territorial cooperation, a border school, an isolated school, and an indigenous school. In all rural school models, under successful formation of external and internal social ties, a shortage of special education teachers is observed. The teachers face methodological, organizational, and social difficulties. In addition, the educational environment is not sufficiently accessible, which forms barriers to social justice. The revealed regional specificity of rural schools serves as a justification for a conceptual and substantive development of Arctic pedagogy. The results obtained are useful for further theoretical and empirical research in the field of inclusive education, as well as for the development of regional programs of inclusive educational practices, taking the differentiation of social conditions into account.

The Role of State Security in Immigration Service

This study enhances the understanding of the function of state security in immigration services. The perspective of state security in national development offers a solution to the current reality of implementing public policy in immigration, which requires a transformation through a more suitable and ideal approach for each immigration officer. One aspect of this study involves strengthening an in-depth interpretation to address and understand the evolving policies, aiming to achieve complex policy objectives. This phenomenon is closely related to the fact that current government policies tend to focus on public services that prioritize public satisfaction. While community demands are urgent for the Indonesian government, implementing public services in the field of immigration involves different dimensional aspects compared to other public services. The main reason is that current immigration issues are becoming increasingly complex, necessitating the adaptation of new approaches. It is crucial to manage the complexity and diversity of factors involved in the immigration service policy process, particularly concerning state security in travel document/passport services, immigration documents, and examinations at immigration checkpoints at state borders.

How P(H)C is your curriculum?

In South Africa and internationally, the alignment of health professions education programme with primary healthcare (PHC) policies is seen to promote the training of fit-for-purpose graduates who can adequately respond to the demands of patient and community needs. This article seeks to describe the development of a tool to assess the degree of PHC in an undergraduate medical curriculum. In defining what is meant by PHC, four dimensions of PHC were identified for the purpose of designing the tool, namely values underpinning PHC, principles of PHC, a generalist focus of the programme, and the level of care that the programme is delivered at. The tool also sought to assess how the content in these dimensions is covered in the curriculum and to which depth students are required to engage. The perspectives that were considered were: what content was being covered, what pedagogy was used, in which context it was being taught and how it was being assessed. For each of these aspects, the dimensions are assessed using an amended Miller’s pyramid to assess the expectations of outcomes for the curriculum. The tool is presented and the article reflects on the use of the tool in a process of assessing a medical curriculum.

Materialization of Ritual: The Example of Alevi Belief System

Rituals are symbolic and physical elements of beliefs and experiences. Individuals' and societies' relationships with nature and struggle for survival within nature have led to the creation of various practices. All these practices, when manifested symbolically within the context of belief systems, are called rituals. Therefore, every change in the relationship between the individual, society, and nature results in a change in rituals. Migration, urbanization, technological advancement, and globalization cause many elements concerning individuals and society to change. Changes that affect societies' social, cultural, economic, and religious lives have led to functional and structural changes in rituals performed within the traditional context. Thus, rituals passed down in traditional societies with their traditional and symbolic structures have undergone semantic and formal changes in rapidly changing modern societies. At the core of these changes lies the necessity for individuals to adapt to contemporary socio-economic conditions. Rituals has a power that shapes community in many ways with their mythic and theological backgrounds. Rituals determine the doctrinal and social structure of Alevi belief system. For the Alevi community, rituals hold the power to transmit cultural and social values, as well as to define the belief system with its mythic and theological background. Traditional Alevi rituals shape the entire lives of their followers. Members of the faith learn and transmit all components of their socio-cultural and economic environment through ritual-centered practices. Despite all political and social events, Alevi communities managed to sustain their ritual-centered traditional belief systems and lifestyles until the 1960s. However, migration after this period rapidly led to the transformation and alteration of ritual-centered life. Alevi communities experienced a culture shock due to their rituals not being accepted by the “other”s. This situation compelled them to conceal their beliefs and remain invisible. The process experienced after migration and urbanization has resulted in the weakening of traditional belief systems among Alevi individuals. During this period where non-governmental organizations are increasingly dominant and influential, the social and cultural demands of Alevi communities who come together under the leadership of non-governmental organizations in the city have led to the transformation and reconstruction of traditional Alevi rituals. Therefore, the traditional structure and rituals of the Alevi belief system have undergone a transition from their traditional context to a new world influenced by factors such as migration, urbanization, modern life, and the rejection of dominant authority. This article discusses the change and re-creation of rituals away from the traditional context in urban life following social and economic demands in the context of fieldwork conducted in Türkiye, Germany, and Austria.

Basic Education Curriculum under the Newly Implemented K to 10 (MATATAG) Curriculum in the Philippines: The Case of Science Education

Curriculum reform is essential to address the current needs of the community, nation, and global demands. By doing this, community members are equipped with relevant skills and competencies that are timely and relevant in modern times. Thus, this study was conducted to determine the nature of the newly implemented K to 10 or MATATAG curriculum under basic education-science in the Philippines. Discussion of the topic revolves around understanding the reasons for curriculum reform and determining the new features and competencies of the new basic education-science curriculum. Moreover, document analysis was carried out to address the objectives of the study. Results revealed that there are four main reasons why curriculum reform is needed in basic education in the country. Reasons include poor performance of learners in national and international assessments, congested curriculum, insufficient time to teach, and mismatch of prerequisite skills and knowledge assumed by the learning competencies. In terms of new features of the basic education science curriculum, the addition of technology and engineering literacy is highlighted, along with an addition of theoretical foundations and approaches to teaching. The analysis further revealed that the highlighted competencies are aligned with the relevant skills and competencies needed in the 21st century, Industry 4.0 and Industry 5.0. Thus, it can be concluded that the newly implemented basic education science curriculum is responsive to global demand, thus making the country more resilient and adaptive to change.

Enhancing climate adaptation: Integrating place-based risk perceptions and coastalscape values using Q+PPGIS

Effective climate change adaptation planning requires evaluating the interplay of physical landscape characteristics and community perceptions of places. Geographic information system (GIS)-based approaches to measuring environmental values can identify locations for planning prioritization. But they seldom are used to consider spatial differences in socio-ecological worldview. This study aims to identify how place-based risk perceptions and landscape values can inform climate change adaptation using a Q+PPGIS method. We integrated mapped landscape values and climate risks (from 39 PPGIS participants) with elicited discourses (for 28 Q-method participants) to develop a novel land classification approach (reflexive Q+PPGIS). The results demonstrate significant differences between wilderness as a discourse and perceived, and the physical features associated with mapped wild areas. Similar differences in discourse and spatial patterns are observed for climate risks. For example, participants’ mapped areas of bushfire risk do not align with agencies’ identified risk areas, their jurisdictions, and capacities to take action. This disconnect presents a challenge to adaptation. Local governments can use this new method to show constituents multiple and often competing community demands for action, enabling honest conversations about feasible actions, responsibilities, and resource allocation.

Synthesis and electrochemical properties of microcanals Mg-S-Cu-S as an electrode material for energy storage applications

The synthesis of novel nanostructured electrode materials is the community demand to overcome energy crises. Herein, the nanostructured copper-sulfide, copper-cadmium-sulfide and copper-magnesium-sulfide (Cu-S, Cd-S-Cu-S and Mg-S-Cu-S) electrodes are synthesized by chemical vapor deposition technique. The changes in crystal growth and surface morphologies of Cu-S, Cd-S-Cu-S and Mg-S-Cu-S electrodes are associated with the formation of heterostructures and change in energy fluxes. The weight % of Ni, Cu, S; Ni, Cd, Cu, S; and Ni, Mg, Cu, S are found to be 8, 62, 30; 6, 16, 48, 30; 15, 14, 45, 26 are observed in Cu-S, Cd-S-Cu-S and Mg-S-Cu-S electrodes respectively. The Mg-S-Cu-S electrode showed superior specific capacitance of 4393 and 5657 F/g at 1 mV/s and 1.0 A/g respectively. The maximum energy density and power density of Mg-S-Cu-S electrode are found to be 141 Wh/kg and 2120 W/kg respectively. The cyclic retention after 3000 cycles of Cu-S, Cd-S-Cu-S and Mg-S-Cu-S electrodes are found to be 80.8, 87.5 and 96.2 % respectively. The simulation results show that the Cd-S-Cu-S followed more capacitive-controlled while Mg-S-Cu-S followed more diffusive controlled process. Result show that the Mg-S-Cu-S electrode is comparatively more suitable for portable energy storage devices.

An enhanced energy management system for coordinated energy storage and exchange in grid-connected photovoltaic-based community microgrids

This paper introduces an enhanced coordinated community energy management system (CEMS) for a community microgrid. It is designed to optimize residential energy consumption and facilitate energy sharing among smart homes. The proposed solution integrates constrained mixed-integer programming (CMIP) approach along with advanced optimization technique and cooperative game theory-based pricing mechanism to address critical challenges in existing energy management strategies, including load scheduling and efficient peer-to-peer energy trading. The CEMS approach is adopted for grid-connected community power systems that incorporate local energy sources such as photovoltaic and battery storage systems. This solution is implemented under a time-of-use dynamic pricing model for energy transfer from the main grid to the community peers, a modified mid-market pricing mechanism for the P2P energy exchange, and feed-in tariff for energy transfer from the community peers to the main grid. Besides, seagull optimization algorithm is applied to relax the CMIP problem to get the optimal rational solution of the scheduling problem which is subjected to a rounding process to obtain the best feasible solution. The obtained results indicate a substantial reduction in electricity costs, achieving daily savings of 72.21 % and reducing grid dependency by 41.95 %. Moreover, 82.2 % of the community's energy demand was met through locally generated resources with 18.39 % enhancement of the overall CMG self-consumption ratio comparing to the reference operating scenario. Ultimately, the study demonstrates the effectiveness of the management system in improving load profiles, maximizing the use of local renewable energy sources, and reducing electricity expenses, thereby providing a sustainable and economically viable model for future smart grids.

Assessment of agricultural residue potential for electrification of off-grid communities in the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District of Ghana

BackgroundThere is a close link between the lack of electricity access and poverty indicators such as illiteracy, high infant mortality, lack of access to health care and malnutrition among others. Most rural farming communities in Ghana lack access to electricity due to the high cost of extending the grid to these communities. This lack of access tends to worsen the gap between urban and rural inhabitants regarding access to education, healthcare and development.MethodsThis study assessed the technical and theoretical potential of agricultural residues in providing electricity to off-grid communities. The study used crop production figures of maize, cassava, millet and groundnut in the Soma and Goyiri farming communities in the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District to conduct an assessment of the theoretical and technical potential of residues from the crops. The production figures of these crops were obtained from the District Office of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. Expected electricity demand of households, schools and health centers in the study communities were collected and employed for the projected load demand estimates.ResultsThe study found that 312.23 MWh/day of electricity could be generated from the combined residues of maize, cassava, millet and groundnut from the two communities. This amount of electricity is capable of providing ~ 202 to 263 times the peak electricity demand of the studied communities. Out of the total electricity demand of the two communities, only about 91 kWh/day is needed for use in a school and Community Health Promotion and Services (CHPS) compound, implying that the electricity from crop residues can also help to improve education and health provision in the rural communities.ConclusionIt is concluded that the potential of crop residues in meeting the electricity demand of off-grid communities is enormous. Hence, it must be considered in Ghana’s energy development plans to achieve universal electricity access.

Photovoltaic sizing assessment for microgrid communities under load shifting constraints and endogenous electricity prices: A Stackelberg approach

Renewable energy resources are crucial for decarbonizing the energy sector. Distributed energy resources, such as renewable generation by microgrids, aid the transition to net-zero systems. As microgrids proliferate, renewable generation often exceeds self-supply capacities, necessitating either the sale of excess electricity or the implementation of demand-response strategies. The optimal approach for microgrids (selling or shifting demand) hinges on electricity prices. This article examines the interplay between microgrids, demand response, photovoltaic investments, and pricing mechanisms. A novel Stackelberg model is proposed to minimize microgrid investment and operational costs. The upper-level problem determines energy community investments and demand response levels based on electricity prices, while the lower-level problem addresses market dispatch and endogenous pricing for microgrids. Case studies with varying battery storage levels, demand response limits, and pricing mechanisms are conducted. The research results illustrate the responsiveness of market transactions to supply conditions and pricing. Key findings show that microgrid flexibility in demand response reduces grid dependency, prompting significant investments in solar energy and battery storage, driven by economic incentives, especially under spot market conditions. Investments in solar energy more than double when microgrids trade energy at spot prices compared to flat prices.