Development of a Peer to peer electricity exchange model in micro grids for rural electrification

Abstract

Lot of discussions has been going on peer to peer electricity sharing and trading in a microgrid scenario all over the world. With the advent of Smart Grids and Transactive Energy Systems, design of a reliable electricity exchange model that can integrate the on-site generation of renewable energy sources, variable loads and households without rooftop solar PVs in a microgrid scenario, is necessary. All around the world, off-grid solar based systems are being utilized to satisfy the electricity demands of isolated rural areas. Though cheap, such options suffer from limitations of demand-supply mismatch and scalability issues. In the present work, a peer to peer (P2P) electricity exchange model is developed to facilitate sharing of power among residential buildings in a rural microgrid scenario. Developed model consists of prosumers, consumer and a centralized P2P station. Different topologies that can be included for developing a P2P power sharing architecture has also been presented. A three peer P2P model with an objective of minimization of loss of power in sharing has been formulated to better utilize the on-site power generation from rooftop solar PV. Simulation results show that at optimal power sharing point better utilization of solar PV power with reduced dependence on grid and lower energy costs can be obtained.