IKEA research and development laboratory Space 10 in Copenhagen is teaming up with blockchain experts Bloc and Blocktech and architects SachsNottveit to explore how solar and blockchain technology can make clean power more accessible.
The SolarVille project creates a prototype for a realistic, scalable self-sufficient, community-driven solar microgrid, including a fully working energy trading platform enabled by blockchain technology.
Some households generate their own renewable energy using solar panels, while other households automatically purchase the excess electricity generated in the community directly from the producer.
Using remote sensors and distributed ledger systems, the transaction network enables self-sufficient monitoring and optimisation of distributed energy resources in a localised network setting, the partners said.
The distributed ledger technology is used to log and manage the energy flow, verifying and recording transactions.
This enables consumer ‘sharing’ of energy that is produced via a microgrid, which can reduce the burden on the larger energy grid, the overall cost of the project and mitigate the intermittent nature of solar power generation, together with battery storage, they added.
Space 10 creative director Bas Van De Poel said: “Centralised energy systems are often too slow and economically inadequate to reach the billion people who remain locked in energy poverty.
“SolarVille showcases that, when working in tandem, technologies such as solar panels, micro-grids and blockchain open new opportunities: off-grid systems allowing people to leapfrog traditional grid electricity.”