Prosumers are agents that both consume and produce electricity. With the growth in small and medium-sized agents using solar photovoltaic panels, smart meters, vehicle-to-grid electric automobiles, home batteries, and other "smart" devices, prosuming offers the potential for consumers and vehicle owners to revaluate their energy practices. As the number of prosumers increases, the electric utility sector of today will likely undergo significant changes over the coming decades, offering possibilities for greening of the system but also bringing with it many unknowns and risks that need to be identified and managed. To develop strategies for the future, policymakers and planners need knowledge of how prosumers could be integrated effectively and efficiently into competitive electricity markets. Here we identify and discuss three promising potential prosumer markets related to prosumer grid integration, peer-to-peer models, and prosumer community groups. We also caution against optimism by laying out a series of caveats and complexities. Editor's summary: Small-scale renewable energy systems and smart technologies are enabling many consumers of energy to become producers and service providers as well. This Perspective explores this 'prosumption' phenomenon, highlighting three promising prosumer market models and the challenges to be overcome for future implementation.
Three potential market models for prosumers, i.e., prosumer-to-grid integration, peer-to-peer models, and community groups, are discussed in REF .
Electricity market design for the prosumer era
Nature Energy
Economics