Electric Vehicles Charging Using Photovoltaic Energy Surplus: A Framework Based on Blockchain

Abstract

In the present day, it is crucial for individuals and companies to reduce their carbon footprints in a society more self-conscious about climate change and other environmental issues. In this sense, public and private institutions are investing in photovoltaic (PV) systems to produce clean energy for self-consumption. Nevertheless, an essential part of this energy is wasted due to lower consumption during non-business periods. This work proposes a novel framework that uses solar-generated energy surplus to charge external electric vehicles (EVs), creating new business opportunities. Furthermore, this paper introduces a novel marketplace platform based on blockchain technology to allow energy trading between institutions and EV owners. Since the energy provided to charge the EV comes from distributed PV generation, the energy’s selling price can be more attractive than the one offered by the retailers—meaning economic gains for the institutions and savings for the users. A case study was carried out to evaluate the feasibility of the proposed solution and its economic advantages. Given the assumptions considered in the study, 3213 EVs could be fully charged by one institution in one year, resulting in over EUR 45,000 in yearly profits. Further, the economic analysis depicts a payback of approximately two years, a net present value of EUR 33,485, and an internal rate of return of 61%. These results indicate that implementing the proposed framework could enable synergy between institutions and EV owners, providing clean and affordable energy to charge vehicles.