Optimal siting, sizing and setting of droop-controlled DERs in autonomous microgrids: A new paradigm in microgrid planning.

• A novel stochastic-robust approach is developed for energy communities. • Individual and collective assets are considered and analysed. • The problem is solved using a novel three-stage procedure. • Operating cost is incremented 77$ when the degree of robustness grows. • Collective storage systems help to reduce unserved demand and wasted generation. This paper presents an extended model for aggregation of operational settings of droop-controlled Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) in Microgrid (MG) planning, thus deriving in a novel problem named Optimal Siting, Sizing and Setting (OSSS) of DERs. The proposed approach precisely deals with the power flow formulation for autonomous MG as an essential constraint for accurate results. Furthermore, the proposed OSSS model considers the frequency and voltage dependence characteristic of loads. The problem casts in multi-objective formulation to consider different technical, power quality and controlling aspects. This will help the designer to provide efficient decision for allocation of DERs. The effects of realistic load model as well as power sharing error index are elaborately investigated in simulation results. The model is thus further validated and its usefulness demonstrated. Finally, the performance of multi-objective OSSS model is verified by comparing the results with the previous simplified models presented in the recently published literatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]