A Sustainable Home Energy Prosumer-Chain Methodology with Energy Tags over the Blockchain

Abstract

In this paper, we aim to provide a power trade system that will promote a sustainable electrical energy transaction ecosystem between prosumers and consumers of smart homes. We suggest a blockchain-based peer-to-peer (P2P) energy transaction platform be implemented to enable efficient electrical energy transaction between prosumers. We suggest the platform be built on the blockchain, as this technology allows a decentralized and distributed trading system, and allows a more transparent, trustworthy and secure P2P trading environment. We believe that such characteristics of the blockchain are necessary in electrical energy transactions within the smart home environment because the smart home aims to enhance user comfort and security, along with energy conservation and cost-savings. First, we classify the two different types of P2P trade to identify which will best benefit from the use of the suggested blockchain-based P2P energy-transaction platform. Within the two types of P2P trade, that we classify (pure P2P trade and hybrid P2P trade), the hybrid P2P trade will benefit more from a blockchain-based P2P energy-transaction platform. In the blockchain-based P2P energy-transaction platform, a smart contract is embedded in the blockchain and called an energy tag. The energy tag will set conditions for making every future energy transaction more cost-efficient while maintaining the most ideal and high-quality energy selection. With the blockchain-based energy tag in the energy-transaction process, multiple energy resources and home appliances will be democratically connected in order to provide users with high-quality, low-cost energy at all times and locations. In this paper, we provide simulation results that compare the unit price of electrical energy on the suggested platform to the unit price of electrical energy set by currently existing conventional power-generation companies. Additionally, we present simulation results that calculate how long initial investments to create a smart home environment that enables P2P energy transactions will take to be paid back. Based on simulation results, we believe that, in the long run, the suggested blockchain-based P2P energy-transaction platform will create a sustainable energy-transaction environment between consumers and prosumers, and the expanding ecosystem will enable the development of a trusted, sustainable, secure and energy-efficient energy transaction environment.

Blockchain for power systems: Current trends and future applications

“…: Voltage Source Converters interfacing PV, wind or storage units) [34]. Many papers [35], [36] do not consider these issues, thus on the one hand, not exploiting the potential of reducing balancing and network costs overhead on consumers, on the other, not accounting for the certification of smart meters readings which are some of the physical assets that must be considered in the cyberphysical implementation of the blockchain. Finally, it can be observed through the analysis of the applications that if technical feasibility of transactions must be verified, the grid operator takes a 'certifier' role that cannot be surrogated by any 'shared' verification mechanisms.…”

Blockchain Based Sustainable Local Energy Trading Considering Home Energy Management and Demurrage Mechanism

“…However, the determination of the trading price between the parties is difficult to reach via negotiation. Similarly, the research work in Reference [24] aimed to provide an energy trading model that will facilitate a sustainable transaction of energy ecosystems among smart homes' consumers and prosumers. However, energy and profit optimizations are not considered.…”

“…Equation (23) means that the total energy before and after shifting the load is assumed to be unchanged, while Equation (24) means that the shifted electricity load must lie between the minimum and maximum electricity loads of the original customer profile.…”

“…As it can be seen in Tables 6 and 7, to satisfy FR with modified price, the hourly electricity cost has to be less than or equal to the maximum of 11858.75 and 5167.50 cents without HEM and demurrage mechanisms, respectively. Similarly, each household energy consumption satisfies the optimization problem constraints given in Equations (23) and (24) and falls within the FR boundary. To compute the FR points, the maximum and minimum energy loads are multiplied with maximum and minimum electricity cost prices collected from the utility and the agreed price from local energy trading.…”

A coalition formation game framework for peer-to-peer energy trading

“…A similar PV and battery-driven P2P energy trading model is also proposed in [10] through an aggregated two-stage battery control technology. Trading mechanisms that focus on empowering prosumers in the market are proposed in [11] and [12]. In the literature, integration of P2P trading in the energy market is also discussed via double-auction based [13], fairness based [14], consensus-based [15], negotiation-based [16], generalized Nash equilibrium [17], and orchestrator based [18] approaches respectively.…”