Cryptographic Energy Balance Verification for Renewable EV Charging
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing technology lacks the ability to verify the origin of renewable energy being supplied to electric vehicles, leading to potential malpractices where malicious providers falsely claim to sell renewable energy for incentives, overloading the grid infrastructure.
Innovation Solution
A system using cryptographic methods, including secret keys and zero-knowledge proofs, to verify the balance and origin of renewable energy, ensuring that the energy received is within the available renewable energy balance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If distributed EV charging systems bring together EV owners and prosumers to extend the EV charging grid, then the coverage of the charging grid is extended and prosumers are incentivized to participate, but the system becomes vulnerable to malversations where malicious energy providers falsely claim to sell renewable energy
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces cryptographic intermediaries (digital signatures, hash functions, and zero-knowledge proof mechanisms) between energy providers and EV owners. These cryptographic tools act as trusted mediators that verify the renewable origin of energy without requiring direct trust between parties. The system uses blockchain or distributed ledger technology as an intermediary layer to record and verify energy transactions, ensuring that malicious providers cannot falsely claim renewable energy sources while maintaining system accessibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces physical verification mechanisms (such as manual inspection of energy sources or centralized authority verification) with cryptographic and mathematical verification systems. Instead of relying on mechanical or administrative processes to verify renewable energy origin, the system uses cryptographic signatures and zero-knowledge proofs that can be automatically verified by any participant in the network, enabling scalable and trustworthy verification across the distributed charging grid.
2Reliability
If the system uses cryptographic methods including zero-knowledge proofs to verify renewable energy balance, then the verifiability and integrity of renewable energy consumption is ensured, but the computational complexity and processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary cryptographic actions during energy generation and storage phases. Energy providers pre-compute cryptographic signatures and store verified renewable energy balances in advance on the distributed ledger. When EV owners need verification, the system retrieves pre-computed cryptographic proofs rather than performing complex verification calculations in real-time, significantly reducing processing complexity during charging transactions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the computationally intensive verification process from the transaction moment and separates it into independent pre-computation and verification phases. The complex zero-knowledge proof generation is performed in advance by trusted authorities or the energy providers themselves, while the EV owner's device only needs to perform lightweight verification of pre-computed proofs, reducing the computational burden on end-user devices.
3Productivity
If malicious energy providers falsely claim to sell renewable energy for incentives, then they gain incentive benefits, but the grid infrastructure becomes overloaded and the integrity of the system is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the distributed ledger continuously records and verifies the renewable energy generation and consumption data. The system provides real-time feedback to energy providers about their verified renewable energy contributions, which directly determines their incentive eligibility. This transparent feedback loop prevents fraudulent claims because any discrepancy between claimed and actually verified renewable energy consumption is immediately detectable and recorded on the immutable ledger, eliminating the ability to falsely claim incentives.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention discloses a first apparatus (100) for: determining a balance (B) of electrical energy during a predetermined time interval, cryptographically signing the balance (B) with a secret key; storing the signed balance (B) in a report (R) associated with the predetermined time interval.