Penetration of renewable energy is strongly slowed by its characteristic intermittency and fluctuating trend and by the inadequacy of electricity networks. These issues can be addressed through the development of new or improved storage technologies with higher performance, availability, durability, safety and lower costs. In the present work, micro-grids characterized by the presence of different subsections including renewable plants coupled with batteries storage solution are investigated through the development of a suitable code. Several design conditions and features, related to RES plant, storage system and users, were considered in order to realize a sensitivity analysis aimed to examine, on a yearly base and with one minute time step, interactions among the different micro-grid subsections and to identify the best solutions from both economic and energy point of views. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.