BitTorrent-inspired decentralized management of residential distributed energy resources (DER)

A novel decentralized approach to the management of residential distributed energy resources (DER) such as solar PV, wind, fuel cells, energy storage devices, and demand response (DR) is described. This new methodology treats residential electricity customers as peers in a BitTorrent-like power swarm, designed to efficiently dispatch local generation, storage, and demand response capacity to perform real-time demand-side load balancing without centralized control. It is envisioned that the technology could be implemented by utilities as an internet-based service layer that would allow more widespread integration of DER and smart devices within the existing power system. Initial MATLAB simulations of a 10-residence neighborhood with distributed generation (DG) demonstrate that BitTorrent is an effective protocol for decentralized load balancing, significantly reducing both local (peer) and aggregate (swarm) demand spikes.