Assessing Niche Readiness of DC Microgrid Applications: Insights from New Zealand’s Energy Transition to Carbon Neutrality

DC microgrids are gaining momentum globally. However, despite their technical readiness, there is still a lack of understanding of their societal readiness. Integrated research, covering both technical and non-technical disciplines, can provide insights into the preconditions necessary for the acceleration and diffusion of DC-driven microgrids. Therefore, we have developed a Niche Readiness Level Model (NRL model) to conceptualise the technical and non-technical barriers that DC still needs to overcome in the future and what has already been achieved in different application contexts. In this study, we use the NRL model for the case of the New Zealand energy transition towards carbon neutrality to further develop the conceptual value of the model for both technical and non-technical research on DC microgrids.