  The current electricity networks were not initially designed for the high
integration of variable generation technologies. They suffer significant losses
due to the combustion of fossil fuels, the long-distance transmission, and
distribution of the power to the network. Recently, \emph{prosumers}, both
consumers and producers, emerge with the increasing affordability to invest in
domestic solar systems. Prosumers may trade within their communities to better
manage their demand and supply as well as providing social and economic
benefits. In this paper, we explore the use of Blockchain technologies and
auction mechanisms to facilitate autonomous peer-to-peer energy trading within
microgrids. We design two frameworks that utilize the smart contract
functionality in Ethereum and employ the continuous double auction and
uniform-price double-sided auction mechanisms, respectively. We validate our
design by conducting A/B tests to compare the performance of different
frameworks on a real-world dataset. The key characteristics of the two
frameworks and several cost analyses are presented for comparison. Our results
demonstrate that a P2P trading platform that integrates the blockchain
technologies and agent-based systems is promising to complement the current
centralized energy grid. We also identify a number of limitations, alternative
solutions, and directions for future work.
