A Novel Prosumer-Centric Smart Contract Based Approach for Blockchain-Enabled Energy Scheduling Using Electric Vehicles

Abstract

Conventional centralized optimization and management approaches may not work well in an emerging and distributed energy system with a high penetration of electric vehicles and green energy sources. The usage of blockchain technology is growing as a strong competitor as it can provide this kind of market with a transparent, secure, and efficient transactional platform. Nevertheless, most energy systems usually depend on complex mathematical optimization, which is poorly incorporated into blockchain applications. Moreover, time-sensitive message dissemination requirements, resource-intensiveness, high computational load, and communication overhead of the traditional blockchain consensus mechanisms make it difficult to connect with real-time vehicular networks. Here, we employ Proof of Intelligence (PoI), a novel prosumer-centric blockchain consensus mechanism to develop a comprehensive model of trust based on commitments of supply and demand through the application of peer-to-peer energy exchange with effective and dynamic integration of renewable sources and electric vehicles both in the day ahead and real-time energy trading platforms. Additionally, the PoI smart contract is developed to seamlessly incorporate mathematical optimization with an increased level of security, scalability, throughput, and low confirmation latency of transactions achieved through the reduced effort involved in finding and confirming the optimal solution in comparison with conventional blockchain consensus mechanisms.