A Blockchain based Framework for Secure and Decentralized Energy Trading in a Community

Blockchain is a decentralized, digital, and distributed ledger which allows transparent and secure information sharing among the peer-to-peer network. It eliminates the need for a centralized trusted party and, though it was introduced as the backbone technology for cryptocurrencies but has proved to be a promising and revolutionary technology for almost all global industries. The application of blockchain technology in the energy sector proposes a paradigm of solutions to problems of different levels of complexity in the traditional energy ecosystem. Extensive research has been proposed to exploit the inherent benefits of blockchain technology for the integration of distributed energy sources and facilitate peer-to-peer energy trading. This paper proposes a blockchain-based architecture to facilitate secure and decentralized energy trading generated from renewable energy sources. The solution utilizes the Ethereum blockchain and Smart Contracts for energy trading among the members of a small community without any trusted third entity and adopts features to achieve data integrity and confidentiality, and user identity privacy.