Distributed game-based pricing strategy for energy sharing in microgrid with PV prosumers

In recent years, many traditional energy consumers are transforming to prosumers with photovoltaic (PV) installations. Thus, energy sharing among prosumers has become a research focus. In this study, the energy sharing problem in a microgrid is formulated as a Stackelberg game. The microgrid operator (MGO) is the leader of the game setting internal buying and selling prices for energy sharing and balances the power mismatch of microgrid by trading energy in day-ahead and real-time market. PV prosumers are the followers of the game deciding their energy sharing profiles in response to internal prices. Each participant of the game makes its best decision to maximise its utility or profit. The Stackelberg equilibrium (SE) is a set of decisions of internal prices and energy sharing profiles, and in SE each participant cannot increase its utility or profit by changing its decision. The existence and uniqueness of the SE have been strictly proved by showing the utility function of MGO is unimodal and has a unique optimal solution. The heuristic algorithm is presented for MGO to achieve the SE in a distributed way, where prosumers get to protect their privacies. Simulation cases have verified the effectiveness and feasibility of the energy sharing strategy.