Peer-to-Peer Energy Markets: Understanding the Values of Collective and Community Trading

Abstract

Peer-to-peer energy-trading platforms (P2P) have the potential to transform the current energy system. However, research is presently scarce on how people would like to participate in, and what would they expect to gain from, such platforms. We address this gap by exploring these questions in the context of the UK energy market. Using a qualitative interview study, we examine how 45 people with an interest in renewable energy understand P2P. We find that the prospective users value the collective benefits of P2P, and understand participation as a mechanism to support social, ecological and economic benefits for communities and larger groups. Drawing on the findings from the interview analysis, we explore broad design characteristics that a prospective P2P energy trading platform should provide to meet the expectations and concerns voiced by our study participants.

Can HCI Help Increase People’s Engagement in Sustainable Development? A Case Study on Energy Literacy

“…As a result, for certain cultural contexts, some benefits might be more relevant than others. As such, the HCI process and methodologies that aim to increase user engagement seem the most adequate because they will consider the unique characteristics of each location [6,[25][26][27][28]. Being that Madeira has a complex geographic context, this methodology seems to be adequate in delivering the energy education needed to address the low literacy levels as suggested by [8].…”

“…In fact, energy has become recognized as a crucial subject of interest for HCI research, mainly regarding the area of sustainable HCI [23,24]. Although the utmost of the HCI research centers on eco-feedback technologies (i.e., the technology provides the feedback on behaviors to reduce environmental impact), other works focus on the study of energy as an intricate design concept (i.e., both an immaterial concept but also a commodified and functional resource) [25] and investigate the ongoing changes at the energy infrastructure level (i.e., peer-to-peer energy trading between self-consumers) [26][27][28].…”

Anticipating Distributional Impacts of Peer-to-Peer Energy Trading: Inference From a Realist Review of Evidence on Airbnb

“…The extent to which such interaction is likely to occur in P2P energy trading is varied and, as yet, unclear. While driving community cohesion is a potentially attractive benefit of some schemes [55], data protection regulation means that sharing of information may be limited to generalities, and trading will often take place as a background function (unlike in Airbnb where there is regular direct contact between hosts and guests). P2P energy trading is likely to involve no, or limited, physical labour (restricted to changes to routines that may enable provision of flexibility).…”

“…The main economic benefits of participating in P2P schemes in any sector come in two kinds: the ability to earn money as a seller, and to save money as a buyer. Participation also has the potential to bring wider benefits, such as new social relationships or a sense of empowerment in meeting lowcarbon energy needs [55]. This study used a realist review of evidence on distributional impacts of the accommodation sharing service Airbnb to help anticipate how benefits and disadvantages might be distributed in P2P energy trading schemes.…”

Identifying Challenges in Engaging Users to Increase Self-Consumption of Electricity in Microgrids

“…Another concept that frames people as participants is that of energy communities. An energy community could be interconnected on a broad scale or be more geographically concentrated, initiated by either community inhabitants or a local authority and motivated by the pursuit of self-sufficiency, CO 2 neutrality or reduced costs [42][43][44]. The constellation of actors in an energy community and their motivations for participating (or not) in these arrangements vary.…”