Aggregator-based electric microgrid for residential applications incorporating renewable energy sources

An electricity microgrid for controlling electricity flow between a plurality of residential consumers and at least one utility company, the microgrid comprising:

• at least one renewable generation source for generating electricity at the microgrid;
• means for storing at least a fraction of the generated electricity at the microgrid;
• and
• an aggregator entity connected with the at least one generation source, the storing means, the plurality of residential consumers and the at least one utility company, at least some of the residential consumers being prosumers including renewable generation sources, the aggregator entity including a processor and non-transitory computer-readable media having stored thereon computer readable instructions, wherein execution of the computer readable instructions by the processor causes the processor to perform operations comprising purchasing electricity from the at least one utility for distribution to the plurality of residential consumers connected to the microgrid and pooling the electricity generated by the at least one renewable generation source, the aggregator utilizing a rules-based mechanism to perform the purchasing of electricity;
• wherein the rules-based mechanism includes the following rules:
• an electricity price charged by a prosumer to the utility is less than an electricity price charged by the prosumer to the aggregator;
• an electricity price charged by the utility to the prosumer is greater than or equal to an electricity price charged by the aggregator to the prosumer;
• an electricity price charged by the utility to the prosumer is greater than or equal to an electricity price charged by the utility to the aggregator;
• an electricity price paid by the utility to the aggregator during a Demand Response program is greater than an electricity price paid by the utility to the aggregator without a Demand Response program;
• an electricity price charged by the prosumer to the utility is less than or equal to an electricity price paid by the utility to the aggregator without a Demand Response program;
• and
• an electricity price paid by a second aggregator entity to buy from a first aggregator entity is greater than or equal to an electricity price paid by the first aggregator entity to buy from the second aggregator entity.