The problem EnergyHive solves

EnergyHive: Making Renewable Energy Accessible, Efficient, and Empowering

In India, Most production of electricity is from coal leading to higher costs, increased carbon footprinting & other environmental issues .

In 2022-23, Discoms in India reported financial losses of Rs 68,832 crore, which is four times higher than the previous year due to coal import, processing cost, high grid maintenance and theft .

Because of centralized power sector, Individuals with surplus energy, like small solar producers, face challenges in selling their energy directly to those in need, often getting underpaid for their contributions.

Solution:
Decentralised P2P Energy Trading and Analysis Platform : A platform that enables individuals to trade
excess renewable energy with each other, while also providing energy usage analysis.

Blockchain for Security: Blockchain technology ensures secure, decentralized transactions with full transparency, removing the need for a central authority.

Transparent, Market-Driven Pricing: Producers control prices, creating a fair, competitive marketplace that benefits both buyers and sellers.

Supporting Sustainability: By promoting renewable energy trading, our platform empowers clean energy producers and contributes to a sustainable future.

Challenges we ran into

Here’s an exploration of the challenges faced with blockchain and GitHub integration in EnergyHive:

1. Blockchain Complexity and Security:
   Challenge: Implementing a secure and scalable blockchain infrastructure is inherently complex. Blockchain requires robust coding practices, especially for smart contracts, to ensure that transactions are tamper-proof and reliable. Ensuring that every aspect of the blockchain maintains security without sacrificing performance was a significant challenge.
   Solution: We had to conduct multiple iterations and testing cycles to verify smart contract security. We used test environments and employed external tools to simulate potential security threats, ensuring that the blockchain layer could handle various scenarios without compromising data integrity.

2. Smart Contract Development and Testing:
   Challenge: Writing and testing smart contracts for energy transactions presented its own set of hurdles. Any errors in smart contract logic could lead to unintended outcomes, potentially affecting users’ funds or transaction data. Smart contracts must also interact seamlessly with data from smart meters and other components of EnergyHive.
   Solution: We used a combination of GitHub for version control and automated testing frameworks specific to blockchain development, like Truffle and Ganache, to simulate contract execution. This integration allowed for rapid testing, collaboration, and debugging while ensuring code integrity.

3. Deployment Challenges:
   We encountered several deployment issues while deploying our application on Vercel. Initially, there were build failures due to missing environment variables and incompatible package versions, which required updates and debugging. Additionally, there were configuration challenges with handling dynamic imports in Next.js, impacting performance optimizations.