A Blockchain-based Renewable Energy Investment Management Platform: Decentralized Sustainable Development (DeSDev)

Abstract

In this study, a novel blockchain-based platform for renewable energy investment is proposed. The blockchain technology has been shown to be a reliable way to send financial transactions across the world in a decentralized manner, at a fraction of the cost and with a faster transaction time. The proposed platform is capable of handling an equity-sharing investment program for solar PV projects. The platform distributes the electricity generation income by sending it over a blockchain. The Ethereum blockchain is used to create a prototype, which is a smart contract. The prototype is tested with a solar-PV electricity generation data. The result shows that the proposed platform can handle the expected transactions without an error. The overall performance of the proposed platform is tested by comparing its temporal duration and its financial costs with centralized solutions. Therefore, the proposed platform provides all the benefits mentioned at a much cheaper cost.