A game-theoretic approach to assess peer-to-peer rooftop solar PV electricity trading under constrained power supply

Alaa Krayem,Sara Najem,Ali Ahmad

doi:10.1007/s12667-021-00483-3

Abstract

The integration of distributed energy resources and the transition to smart cities are shifting the urban energy sector to a decentralized operating system. Blockchain-based microgrids, where small-scale operators trade electricity among each others, have gained remarkable attention recently. However, most of the proposed schemes study smart grids in prosperous cities. In this study, the performance of a solar-based power trading scheme is investigated in a shortage-prone context, Beirut City. Thus, we resort to a game-theoretic approach to model power trading as a repeated game between buildings at the urban scale. Results show that solar energy can cover up to 25% of the city electricity needs, depending on the rooftops area coverage. On the other hand, we found that deploying a peer-to-peer trading scheme has marginal impact since the energy demand in the city exceeds the supply and most buildings would prioritize self-consumption.

Highlights

The urban energy sector is undergoing face-paced transformations linked to the accelerated advancement in renewable energy systems and to the penetration of distributed energy resources
The main challenge of renewable energy resources is their variability under different weather conditions, which triggers the need for flexible and stable energy operations [11]
We explore the potential of power trading in the city of Beirut

Summary

Introduction

The urban energy sector is undergoing face-paced transformations linked to the accelerated advancement in renewable energy systems and to the penetration of distributed energy resources. There is a concomitant “digital transition” that the sector is witnessing due to the development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and the penetration of smart energy services [39] This emerging complexity of the energy systems calls for further research of decentralized and digitized approaches to optimize city-wide power management [3]. By scaling down from a centralized grid to a group of interconnected or individual microgrids, small-scale participants can trade energy within their communities, and control their energy generation and demand Such market urges the need for a secure and smart information system [29]. Some nodes may be malicious, and tend to form collisions and blow up the principle of decentralization [26] To address these risks, game theory has been applied in the blockchain network [26]. Nodes can learn and predict each other strategies which optimize the decision making strategies and reduce the security risks

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion