ABSTRACT

Whilst the primary use of microgeneration is to service the energy demands of a building or a community, microgeneration technologies could also play a role in wider energy networks such as communal heating schemes or (more typically) local electrical networks. However, the widespread participation of microgeneration in an energy network presupposes that those networks have evolved to accommodate and best utilise the microgeneration resources. Currently, this is rarely the case and microgeneration technologies tend to be connected piecemeal to existing networks which have been designed to transport power – in one direction – from large central generators to the end-user at the end of the network.