Today I received a monthly email that fills me with a warm, blissful glow, much like that feeling of sunshine on my face on the first warm day of spring.
About 6 months ago, I learned about The Sun Exchange, a novel project based in South Africa that allows anyone in the world to invest in photovoltaic (solar) installations. The Sun Exchange accepts bitcoin, turns it into South African ZAR, and issues individual solar cells in a project they take on. So far they have crowd-funded in this way for four different projects, with three of them getting enough funding to complete the installation. The successful campaigns have been a tire recycling company (45 kWh), a wildlife rehabilitation center (17 kWh), and most recently, an elephant sanctuary (60 kWh). The project that didn't get enough funding was one that I was really excited about, and would have provided 100% of the electric needs to an entire village.
I purchased 90 solar cells in the CROW Wildlife Rehab, for 9450 ZAR, which at the time was about US$500. The contract allows me to lease those cells to the Rehab for 20 years. At that time, I may be able to enter a new lease agreement with the Rehab, or I could actually take physical delivery of them if I am willing to pay for dismantling and shipping. In fact, I do technically own them now, and I can take delivery any time I wish, but that is obviously not why anyone would participate, but does underscore an important aspect of the transparency of the project.
So how much income do 90 solar cells in South Africa produce? To date, I have earned BTC 0.00634698, about US$50 at today's rate. If Bitcoin remained at its current rate I would earn my investment back in about 5 years, and then earn an additional $1500 over the remaining years of the lease.
Here's a video on The Sun Exchange:
In addition to earning the monthly lease fee, I was also able to link my 90 cells to my #SolarCoin wallet, which I previously set up to receive #SLR as a reward for the energy I produce on my 9kWh rooftop array. Combined, I collect about 20 SLR a year. If you are not familiar with The SolarCoin Foundtion, it is a 100% volunteer run, non-government, non-profit organization that rewards anyone who produces solar power with SLR. Today's price of SLR is about US$0.55. SLR has increased in value since it began in 2014, and is expected to demonstrate steady growth over the next 35 years, as it is based on actual energy produced.
So, as if an investment in The Sun Exchange isn't wise on its own, the added incentive provided by SolarCoin really makes it something to consider.
Here is a short promo video on SolarCoin that was produced by SolarLux Limited and originally shared here by 