Commercial, Distributed Generation, Solar  -  May 28, 2019

Toyota to test blockchain, EV solar power trading

Toyota announced May 23 plans to use blockchain for a prosumer electricity trading test to explore electricity trading among individuals and business who store excess power from solar panels in batteries and electrified vehicles.

The program will be conducted in partnership with the University of Tokyo and TRENDE.

The test will include installing AI-powered electricity management systems in home and businesses in order to automate the process.

In the announcement, the car manufacturer explained that Japan's electricity system is experiencing a shift from a traditional large-scale consolidated system t a distributed system by which individuals and businesses own their own power supply.

Toyota and TRENDE claim this is the world's first test for electricity trading between individuals that incorporate PHEVs as a distributed power supply, in addition to solar panels and secondary batteries.

The project description refers to the study subjects as "prosumers", a word coined to merge "producer" and "consumer". The word refers to an electricity consumer who is also a producer of electricity using self-owned power generation equipment.

The partnership hopes that the test will verify the economic advantage of having prosumers, who generate electricity with their own distributed power supply, trade electricity with electricity consumers, via an electricity exchange market, at prices that reflect supply and demand conditions. They also hope to assess the feasibility of a two-way, self-autonomous electricity supply system that allows direct trading with other prosumers.

SED's View: This will be a fascinating test to watch as it encompasses two potentially powerful forces of the energy transition: EVs as a distributed energy power source and blockchain energy trading.

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