ReCert and Prosumer-Driven Aggregator for Granular Energy Certificates

This paper introduces ReCert (Re-Certified Renewable Energy Certificates) and a prosumer-driven aggregator to address the limitations of traditional Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). ReCert enables granular, sliceable certificates for small-scale renewable energy projects (e.g., residential solar panels) and leverages Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) and IOTA’s Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) to ensure transparency, interoperability, and cost efficiency.

Key Components of the Framework

1. Granular ReCerts:

   • Supports certificates in smaller units (e.g., kWh instead of MWh), enabling participation of household prosumers.
   • Sliceable design allows flexible trading and aggregation.

2. Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI):

   • Empowers prosumers to issue certificates as Verifiable Credentials (VCs), ensuring decentralized trust and global verification.

3. Hybrid Architecture:

   • IOTA Tangle: Manages high-volume, feeless transactions for certificate issuance and aggregation.
   • Public Blockchain: Anchors aggregated Merkle Tree root hashes for immutable verification.

4. Prosumer-Driven Aggregator:

   • Aggregates certificates at the prosumer meter level, reducing reliance on centralized registries.

5. Three Core Entities:

   • Prosumer Meters: Generate and submit granular ReCerts.
   • IOTA-Driven Registry: Validates and aggregates certificates using IOTA’s DLT.
   • Auditors: Verify certificates via Merkle proofs and blockchain-anchored data.

How ReCert Works

Certificate Lifecycle:

1. Creation: Prosumer meters generate ReCerts for renewable energy production (e.g., solar panels) and submit them to the IOTA-driven registry.
2. Ownership Transfer: ReCerts are traded globally using SSI standards, enabling cross-registry transactions.
3. Retirement: ReCerts are retired when claimed for Scope 2 emissions, removing them from circulation.

Aggregation Process:

1. Submission: Prosumers submit ReCerts to the IOTA-driven registry.
2. Aggregation: Prosumer meters aggregate ReCerts into a Merkle Tree and request Re-Certification.
3. Re-Certification: The registry verifies aggregated certificates, anchors the Merkle Tree root hash on the blockchain, and updates ownership/status.
4. Verification: Auditors validate certificates using Merkle proofs and blockchain data.

Role of IOTA’s DLT

• Indexation Payloads: Enables efficient retrieval of ReCerts using transaction tags.
• Feeless Transactions: Reduces costs for high-volume, granular certificate issuance.
• Local Snapshots: Truncates outdated data to optimize storage and operational efficiency.

Advantages Over Existing Systems

1. Granularity & Inclusivity:

   • Supports small-scale prosumers (e.g., households) by enabling kWh-level certificates.

2. Cost Efficiency:

   • IOTA’s feeless DLT minimizes transaction costs, while bulk anchoring on blockchain reduces gas fees.

3. Decentralized Trust:

   • SSI and blockchain eliminate reliance on centralized registries, enhancing transparency.

4. Interoperability:

   • Standardized VC-based certificates enable cross-registry and cross-border trading.

5. Simplified Management:

   • Prosumer-driven aggregation reduces Merkle Tree complexity and streamlines auditing.

Comparative Benefits

• Reduced Merkle Trees: Aggregates certificates on-demand (vs. periodic aggregation in existing systems).
• Lower Operational Costs: Fewer blockchain transactions due to optimized aggregation.
• User-Centric Design: Each Merkle Tree corresponds to a single prosumer, simplifying audits and ownership transfers.

This framework addresses the rigidity, centralization, and inefficiencies of traditional RECs, fostering a more inclusive and scalable renewable energy market.