Understanding and predicting the impact of location and load on microgrid design

• Assessed microgrid design over 16 locations and 6 loads with mixed integer linear program.
• Trends in total cost, annual emissions, and renewables incorporation are identified.
• A heuristic procedure is used to quantify design trends based on only 7 inputs.
• A short validation case study is performed including comparison to existing methods.

This paper examines the impact of location and load shape selection on microgrid optimal design. 96 unique combinations of location and load shape are considered to provide a broader scope than any previous work in microgrid design sensitivity analysis. In addition, the level of autonomy from the macrogrid is considered as a tunable parameter in the optimization. A generic system is considered consisting of photovoltaics, wind turbine, microturbines, electric and natural gas boilers, thermal storage, and a battery bank. The microgrid is grid-connected and designed to supply both heat and power. A mixed integer linear program is used to minimize the expected cost of energy supply over a 20 year horizon. Trends in the design results are discussed and important input parameters that depend on the location and load shape are identified. Finally, a procedure to quantify these trends and predict optimal design results in new locations is proposed.