A Lockable ERC20 Token for Peer to Peer Energy Trading

TL;DR

This paper introduces a lockable ERC20 token enabling secure peer-to-peer energy trading by allowing tokens to be locked until energy delivery is verified, enhancing trust and settlement in decentralized energy markets.

Contribution

We propose a novel lockable ERC20 token with smart contract-based locking mechanisms tailored for energy trading, ensuring secure and conditional settlement of energy transactions.

Findings

Tokens can be successfully locked and unlocked based on energy delivery conditions.

The system effectively digitizes energy surplus and manages escrow in peer-to-peer markets.

Validation shows reliable enforcement of lock conditions tied to energy meter data.

Abstract

In this paper, we address the digitization of physical assets using blockchain technology focusing on energy and peer-to-peer trading on decentralized energy markets. Because they are forward markets and operate on a day-ahead timeline, the energy transactions are settled only at the movement of energy delivery. Having the option of locking the energy tokens by a third-party escrow becomes a highly desirable feature. Thus, we define a Lockable ERC20 token that provides the option for an owner to lock some of its tokens using smart contracts. A time-lock and an escrow party account or smart contract can be specified allowing the tokens to be unlocked when certain business conditions are met. For validation purposes, we have considered a peer-to-peer energy trading scenario in which the Lockable ERC20 token was used to digitize the surplus of energy of prosumers. In this case, the energy tokens committed in blockchain transactions are successfully locked up until the actual delivery of energy, the settlement considering the monitored data of energy meters.