South African startup Sun Exchange has launched an international crowdfunding campaign to build a solar power plant with the help of bitcoin micro-investments.

The photovoltaic system will be built right on the roof of a Waldorf school situated in Stellenbosch, South Africa. It will provide electricity for the school using solar energy. To comply with South African law, no electricity will be exported from the school.

The company needs 400,000 rands to build the system and to make it work. It accepts both fiat currency (South African Rand, GBP, USD) and bitcoins. The minimum investment varies depending on the age of the investor. For adults, it is the equivalent of 1000 rands; for those under 18, just 100 rands (which is about 6.5 USD). The startup obviously wants to encourage young people to participate.

Using bitcoin for such a project makes it much swifter and easier, reads the company’s website. The cryptocurrency facilitates international remittances, removing the inconveniences caused by currency exchange. Thus, people from all over the world will be able to benefit from the hot South African sun. Indeed, the project has already received money from international investors located in Canada, Switzerland, Australia and the UK, writes Ventureburn in an article covering the solar startup. South African investors, however, haven’t made their move yet.

Another advantage of the system is that it is designed in accordance with the P2P principle, which is seminal for bitcoin. The website specifically notes that no bureaucratic body or supervising organisation will be involved in the process. In fact, Sun Exchange itself doesn’t get control over the investments like a bank would do. “We are a market place and never hold onto a lender's money,” reads the website. The Stellenbosch project is a cooperative foundation where lenders participate as security owners.

Thus, if the project is successful, innovation in finance, energy and education will be combined in (and on top of) the Stellenbosch Waldorf school. The income investors will receive from the project, however, cannot be fairly estimated now, because it will depend on the value of electricity.

Sun Exchange is planning to carry on with other projects as well, not only in South Africa. There is a special page on the company’s website where anyone willing to establish a solar PV system on their premises can register. In effect, claims the company with imperial solemnity, it is going to build a range of solar plants worldwide, “upon which the sun will never set.”

Andrew Levich