Caravels: A Decentralized Container-Based Infrastructure for Sustainable Human-Centric Intelligent Energy Communities

As the European Union sets a target to increase renewable energy consumption by 2030, progressing towards a decentralized energy production becomes more a (greater?) priority. This can be achieved with initiatives such as energy communities, which when combined with active consumer participation and the integration of IoT devices and Cloud Computing technologies in households can enhance energy management, however, it also introduces privacy concerns. Single-board computers are cost-effective computing solutions, but in turn face challenges with scalability and reliability. To address these issues, we propose Caravels, a distributed solution that leverages container applications for intelligent energy communities. Caravels promotes direct peer-to-peer communication among users, enabling real-time applications and collaborative deployments while ensuring user data privacy and system scalability. We conducted a case study that implements Caravels across Raspberry Pi nodes, demonstrating its feasibility and adaptability. The results indicate Caravels’ promising potential to empower households towards sustainable energy management and overcoming technological constraints and privacy concerns.