The Sun Exchange

Sun Exchange is a marketplace for conscious capital to build and accelerate the global transition to solar energy. The company leverages the decentralised and democratic crypto-economy to make solar power and its economic, social and environmental benefits more accessible and inclusive. Through the Sun Exchange online platform, anyone with an internet connection can purchase solar photovoltaic cells, and lease them to businesses, hospitals, schools and other organisations located in the sunniest regions of the planet. Solar cell owners receive lease rental payments , paid optionally in fiat or bitcoin , while offtakers enjoy the benefits of affordable clean energy.

Solar cells purchased through Sun Exchange provide an unique opportunity to earn income while helping to solar power developing regions, supporting the global transition to clean power, and taking action against climate change. Sun Exchange solar cells also offer a convient way for individuals who are new to cryptocurrency to start building cryptocurrency wealth backed by tangible assets that are managed, maintained and in-sured. Additionally, Sun Exchange enables cryptocurrency holders to diversify their assets and convert theoretical wealth into tangible and valuable energy-generating solar assets.

To further accelerate access to solar energy globally, and to grow its community of inspired members actively participating in the global transition to solar power, Sun Exchange is now introducing SUNEX, the native network token for the Sun Exchange platform.

While solar energy has taken off and quickly spread across the globe, it has unfortunately lagged behind in the developing regions that need it most. This includes Africa and the Middle East, where lack of access to solar project financing remains a significant obstacle. South Africa is an emerging and industrialised nation with large and increasing demand for energy. Its electricity infrastructure is outdated, almost entirely coal-powered and owned and operated by a state-owned monopoly. To date, Sun Exchange has focused on enabling solar projects in South Africa, one of the sunniest countries in the world and has established an international network of major solar installation companies and project developers that specialise in identifying and building these small to medium-scale commercial solar plants.

Sun Exchange offers its members solar power asset ownership opportunities that tradi-tionally have only been available to institutional investors. Purchasing solar cells within Sun Exchange projects decentralises solar power plant ownership, ensuring that the environmental and socioeconomic issues of centralised energy supplies, inherent in the fossil fuel industries, are not replicated as the world migrates to clean energy. Sun Exchange is establishing a globally-distributed clean energy virtual transactive smart grid, giving the international community a chance to collectively own its energy sources, maximising the potential for redistribution of wealth.

Sun Exchange was developed directly in response to the urgent global need for continued proliferation of clean, decentralised energy, and to harness the opportunity presented by the parallel developments in solar and blockchain technologies.

The main components of blockchain technology Sun Exchange integrates are:

• SUNEX Tokens
• Cryptocurrency payments
• Smart Contracts and IoT Sensors
• Solar Project Insurance Fund (SPIF) Smart Contracts

SUNEX tokens will be available to the general public and existing platform members. The tokens are designed to make solar asset ownership through Sun Exchange more affordable and rewarding, while making electricity production more profitable and accessible. SUNEX tokens may be staked on the Sun Exchange platform’s new Solar Project Insurance Fund to provide a buffer against losses from solar lease contract defaults. The SPIF provides more secure solar asset ownership opportunities for Sun Exchange members. SUNEX token benefits also include a loyalty programme which unlocks access to solar cell purchase discounts and rental bonuses, and gamification features designed to diversify and maximise impact of members’ solar cell portfolios. The more SUNEX a Sun Exchange member owns, the higher they pro-gress through the tiers and the more valuable their benefits become.

The Sun Exchange marketplace enables individuals and organizations across the globe to buy solar cells and lease them to be installed in commercial and industrial solar projects and mini-grids. Solar cell owners earn rental income directly from their solar assets, which are installed into projects that bring solar power to emerging markets.

Sun Exchange targets two key audience groups: Solar power offtakers and Solar cell purchasers/members.

Sun Exchange was Launched on Indiegogo in 2015. The platform has been running for 3 years and has won Best Bitcoin & Blockchain Business in Africa Award in 2016 and 2017. Won Global blockchain Challenge in 2017. Their model is Solar Panel Micro-leasing using Bitcoin as the payment system. This model is universally scalable and doesn’t face the regulatory obstacles that P2P energy trading platforms like of Powerledger and Wepower will face. Also the platform exists today, it can already be used, so impatient token holders dont need to wait long to utilise their SUNEX tokens. Sun Exchange received VC funding of $1.6m in September 2017. This is very important as it shows that the core business and team was subjected to very detailed institutional level due diligence very recently, and with existing funding behind them the core team are getting paid to work full time with no compromise. Project have solid and experienced team with broad experience from finance, solar and blockchain.