Chinese blockchain research team at Fudan University has developed a blockchain-based system that will assist in optimizing the power grid of China. The technique that Chinese blockchain research team has developed takes advantage of the ability of blockchain to allow automatic micro-payments.
A patent has been filed by the researchers for their new system that they believe will resolve an ordinary issue for small-scale solar power manufacturers in China. In this country, the manufacture and utilization of solar power are mounting. Regrettably, in several cases, surplus energy is wasted.
The team had this to state regarding the issue of wasted energy in their country, “Households then have no other alternative but to allow the unutilized solar energy go to waste as they do not have a way out for exchanging electricity.”
While it is achievable for individuals to utilize grid-tie inverters that allow a power consumer to place surplus wind or solar energy onto the electrical grid, receiving payment for that power is another topic. In a few instances, the quantity of surplus energy is small and the research team dealt with this through the use of micro-payments.
The method that the Chinese blockchain researchers suggest is that the complete system utilizes a common cryptocurrency, “This suggestion can be attained in either private, public, or consortium blockchain. And the system, in this case, has been developed on the Ethereum blockchain as well as Hyperledger platform of IBM, to make electricity shareable and tradeable within a community.”
The notion that the Chinese blockchain team is patenting seems to be helpful, but there was no explanation on what sort of crypto would be utilized in their system.
On a similar note, a patent was filed by Walmart, a mega-retailer based in the United States, for an identical system that would take benefit of IoT and blockchain to make a smart-grid.