By Rodrigo Barraza, SERC Chile researcher – Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez

Generating our own energy is not an illusion. Research is advancing, and today we can speak of Peer to Peer (P2P) systems, which operate under a scheme of households acting as prosumers, with the capacity to generate their own electricity, whether through solar panels or as electricity consumers.

To implement this technology, a certain degree of initial investment is required. First, it would be necessary to equip homes with smart devices and sensors to monitor the status of electrical and thermal systems in real time and estimate thermal loads for air conditioning, heating, and domestic hot water. Subsequently, a resilient and reliable communication system would need to be implemented between these devices, both locally and between households, to efficiently coordinate energy transactions among homes. Additionally, intelligent models must be developed for the accurate prediction of generation and energy consumption behavior, as well as blockchain models to carry out real-time transactions, requiring expert intervention and specialized consulting. Finally, the costs associated with system operation, including periodic software and hardware maintenance, must be added.

Now, despite the initial cost, in the long term, the savings in energy consumption and electricity bills, along with improvements in the profitability of distributed generation projects, would offset these higher initial costs. From an energy perspective, levels of self-consumption and self-sufficiency in communities would increase, reducing dependence on grid energy during peak consumption periods. This would benefit the transmission system by reducing its load and would improve environmental sustainability, as the P2P system allows for transactions of surplus electricity from the prosumer to a consumer at an advantageous selling price (higher than if sold to the power grid) and allows the consumer to purchase this electricity at a lower price than they would from the grid. Thus, this technology can align with local policies to improve sustainability, energy efficiency, energy decentralization, and the utilization of the vast solar resource in certain areas of the country.

A case study in Viña del Mar, conducted in a community of four households with 50% photovoltaic penetration, indicates that after implementing a P2P market that integrates smart control of residential thermal loads, the current self-consumption rate of 57% could increase to 91%. That is, currently nearly half of the generation is injected into the public grid, whereas with this technology, less than 10% would be injected. Furthermore, the current self-sufficiency rate of 27% could increase to 45%, where slightly less than half of the local demand would be met by distributed generation projects. In Chile, for this to occur, regulatory changes are required, as is a transition toward smart communities that maintain continuous monitoring and control of their energy generation and consumption. To facilitate its implementation, research and the development of pilot projects must continue to demonstrate the benefits of this technology at a local level and persuade authorities to adopt regulatory and technological modifications.