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I have been in renewable energy sector (hydro and solar) for over 8 years and I really see that the vision here is strong. Solarex is not the first project trying to figure out how to use blockchain for renewable energy. So far, as far as I know, none of them have been successful, maybe this time it can be different and the team can deliver. Distributed generation is the near future and a global trend, everybody including large utilities and private equity funds are looking into this business. Price of solar panels drops from year to year.



If you think about Africa, Nigeria is the right place to start this project: the largest population growing quickly and very high cost of energy. Electrification of rural areas can be done by off-grid installations replacing (or at least reducing) usage of diesel generators. Rooftop solar can be used on companies to reduce electricity bill and high power photovoltaic irrigation systems (either off-grid or hybrid). You may have a look at such a project/technology financed by European Commission Horizon 2020 here: https://maslowaten.eu/?page_id=579&lang=en



Financing of solar photovoltaic projects is not new, SolarCity in the US and other large companies have been doing it in Europe. Most of the European and US economic models work due to the benefit of the feed-in tariffs. The high cost of electricity in African counties and the constant reduction of the cost of the solar panels may guarantee the viability of the economic model. Solar panels are easy to install and pretty cheap to maintain. Almost any decent manufacturer offers 25 years of guarantee (well, at least a guarantee that the panels will deliver at 80% of the capacity during the period). Complex civil works are not necessary, only cost are panels, inverter and minor equipment.



The problem with solar energy is, well, the sun does not shine 24/7 and the generating capacity may be affected during daytime irradiation by bad weather or clouds. There are some algorithms being designed who are able to mitigate that, but for instance a factory using rooftop solar to reduce the cost of energy is not able to rely upon 100% on solar energy as unplanned halt may damage the industrial equipment.



Most of the systems try to solve this incorporating to the installation a batteries to store the energy. The problem with energy storage is that those systems increase the cost and complexity of the installation (batteries will need replacement several times during the 25y period). As of the state of technology today, the most efficient solution is to use hybrid systems (diesel generator or grid connection) whenever it is possible.



The mechanisms to finance solar projects are clear: either a solar lease or a PPA. The question would be here about the ownership of the installation and the generated PV. If the project company has the ownership of the installation then, the sale of the excess energy to the grid should be done by the owner of the installation. As I explained before, the vision is very good, guys are digging where they should.



The team looks strong, lots of people with different backgrounds, people with local knowledge of project implementation in Nigeria and also profiles with expertise in blockchain. Advisors seem also the adequate. The main question I would have here is to know how tight this star team is working together to bring up the project. How deep are they committed to the vision and to project implementation? If the commitment is not intensive by all the member, the project execution may suffer.



The implementation of blockchain for this kind of project comes natural. Distributed solar photovoltaic generation facilities owned by small companies or private individuals will have the possibility to sell the excessive energy to the users who need it. Blockchain as a decentralized technology offers trust and confirmation on the transaction. There are already some projects working on this, including the Catalan Energy Institute in Spain.



The digital asset is presented as a utility token but the white paper mentions that the token may end up giving some revenue or economic benefit. This needs to be carefully analyzed as this may end up drawing you into financial regulation considering the token as a security (with all the complexity this may mean). Review carefully the solar project finance initiative from the financial regulation perspective to avoid offering securities to the market.



I have seen the MVP for p2p trading platform. You can buy and sell energy through this system but the main question is how will you be able to execute and deliver this off-chain. How will you link the transfer of value on the blockchain with the transfer of energy in the real world. The Project Financing Demo is still not available. I´m afraid that the end product you are offering is a far too ambitious: you want it all and want to develop this in parallel. You are trying to put too many things in place, that´s the main reason for low rate. All of them are necessary and can be feasible but you need to focus. The dispersion of team focus and resources -including funds- may lead to a disaster. Don’t be too ambitious. You can either start local and grow global one step at time (but this will take you more time than what you suggested). Alternatively you can develop you own global blockchain solution, be the platform and have several pilot projects running on it for proving your point.



I wish you good luck in the crowdfunding and will be happy to watch project development closely, see how you pivot and come up with interesting solutions.



This review is a personal opinion based on my personal and professional experience. It does not constitute any recommendation to invest or not to invest into this project, please do your own research and assessment.

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