on the crypto
The blockchain startup Power Ledger has announced a "technically feasible" idea that can be used in the real world to trade using solar energy.
The results of a year-long test
The process, which was funded in part by the Australian government, examined 48 families in Fremantle, Western Australia and found that electricity trading managed via the peer-to-peer (P2P) blockchain produced lower costs for customers.
"Power Ledger has demonstrated how peer-to-peer energy trading can incentivize the right results for the network in a more convenient way," said Power Ledger president Jemma Green in a press release.
The process took place between December 2018 and January 2020 as part of the RENeW Nexus project and used Power Ledger's blockchain technology to track solar energy exchanges between families in the area. RENeW is an Australian national non-profit organization that promotes sustainable life.
A more stable electricity network at lower costs
A report detailing the results of the process, published earlier this month thanks to a collaboration between Power Ledger, Curtin and Murdoch University, found that energy trading could provide local energy markets with the opportunity to offer an electricity grid. more stable, at lower costs.
Other findings that emerged in the report include how the Australian tariff structure needed a revision to make P2P energy trading more attractive to the consumer and make it more easily accessible to manage excess solar energy (during the day). within the network without the need to manage additional funds.
"Participants had a positive outlook on P2P energy trading and could see the benefits, but they said changes to the pricing structure would be needed to make it more attractive," says the report.
The initiative of a completely self-powered village
The project also cited a study on a distributed Virtual Power Plant (VPP) and a microgrid with a 670kWh battery that will serve the homes in the "development of the East Village in Fremantle". The Village is a sustainable development initiative that includes smart homes powered by green renewable energy.
In the case of the Power Ledger initiative, a virtual power plant is a cloud-based distributed power plant that aggregates green energy resources for the purpose of improving energy production, as well as exchanging or selling energy on the local electricity market.
"This project is the first in the world with great significance for how cities around the world can learn to share solar energy," co-author Peter Newman said in a statement.
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