## 3 Methodology
### Broader Survey (Target: Distribution System Operators (DSOs))  
Following the feedback from the technology developers through the S&R method, a broader survey was conducted to explore the market potential and assess the customers' acceptance of the proposed H2020 RESOLVD solutions. In the meantime, the survey intended to validate if the DSO feedback was a valuable source of new ideas and served to gauge and prioritize if further improvements were needed. This survey was organized into and covered four parts:  
* Part 1: Current status and practices of the LV grid management system: In this section, sets of guiding questions were designed to understand the status, challenges, barriers and future needs of the LV grid management system. These questions gathered DSOs' feedback on how resource intensive the LV grid operation is and how critical it is to detect all types of losses and got an overview on the impact of increased RES and activation of flexibility while managing an LV grid.
* Part 2: RESOLVD value propositions to overcome DSO challenges: The feedback in these parts was directly linked to the list of value propositions which H2020 RESOLVD offered. This was designed point-by-point in response to all of the value propositions and KPIs listed. These included the improvement in observability; continuity of supply to customers, thanks to energy storage capability; reduction in distribution power losses; improved power quality; increase in the grid hosting capacity for renewables, among others. A complete list of the value propositions of RESOLVD is presented in Section 4.
* Part 3: DSOs' preparedness to adopt new technologies: To analyze the future market potential of RESOLVD solutions and their deployment, a set of questions were designed to be responded proactively regarding the preparedness of the DSOs in adopting new technologies which would enable them to manage the LV grids intelligently. These questions were designed to assess the position and readiness of the DSOs to implement new technology, hear the customers' (DSOs) voice about if the required standards were in place, implement protocols and interfaces to foster interoperability between legacy systems, etc. and further investigate if there were any constraining factors to the use of flexibility in grid management.
* Part 4: Regulatory aspects to tackle challenges of RES integration at the LV grid level Complying with regulations and legal requirements is eminent while managing smart grids. Therefore, it is clear that looking at the challenges and barriers linked with regulations and legal aspects of the LV grid management is necessary. Therefore, the survey covered questions regarding if the DSOs had encountered any specific national regulatory, legal and other constraining factors. Another important aspect incorporated into the survey was to investigate if the e-regulation and e-directive of the EU commission (under the clean energy package, 2019) was clear enough to foster the use of flexibility assets. Furthermore, the need for updated regulations with respect to the potential business models and approaches for successful adoption of new technologies, such as the H2020 RESOLVD solutions, were assessed.