Proof of Work Consensus Based Peer to Peer Energy Trading in the Indian Residential Community

Abstract

Rooftop solar power generation is becoming more widespread in residential microgrids. As well as new concepts of electricity markets, such as peer-to-peer (P2P) markets, where consumers and prosumers can directly exchange locally generated energy with each other without any intermediary third party for sustainable development. Data security is a big concern with energy trading; therefore, blockchain technology is being used more and more in energy markets. It has the potential to simplify P2P energy trading. In this paper, blockchain is designed to fit into the decentralized nature of the P2P market, securing the payment mechanism and transaction data store. The blockchain-enabled platform is developed using the Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus algorithm, and is verified with the help of the Postman application programming interface (API). All transactions involving the buying and selling of energy are handled by a miner without the help of any third parties. The study of a five-user residential community, whether the strategy is recommended or not, is validated through simulation findings. An overview of the results revealed that all users benefited from the developed, secure P2P platform.