SolarCoin

SolarCoin
SolarCoin.png
The renewable energy currency for climate change and beyond
Overview.png
Function: Solar energy incentive, climate change mitigation, remote sensing, environmental monitoring, distributed blockchain, Internet of Things
Symbol: SLR, §
Founded: January 2014
Users: International
Inflation: 2% annual
Total supply: §98.34 billion
Grants issued: 11 Million MWh solar energy​ in 68 countries (September 2018)
Key people: Christopher Altman
Cofounder, Chief Scientist
SolarCoin & ElectriCChain
Nick Gogerty
Cofounder, Chief Executive
SolarCoin & ElectriCChain
Joe Zitoli
Cofounder, COO SolarCoin
Luke Johnson
Advisor, Cofounder ElectriCChain
François Sonnet
Advisor, Cofounder ElectriCChain
Affiliates: ElectriCChain, Medicis, Lemma, SolarLux, SolarView, SMAP Energy, Watt for Watt, SolarGain, Alesia Communications, Sollab, SolarValue, Japan SolarCoin Association, Solcrypto, EarthSpace, GoParity, The Sun Exchange, Magnefico, Solo Energy, Ainova Inc
Website: solarcoin.org

SolarCoin (§ ; SLR) is a multibillion dollar climate change initiative and renewable energy cryptocurrency designed to incentivize a planet powered largely by solar energy. To this end, the project is on a mission to build the foundation for a global energy transition by awarding SolarCoins to solar energy producers, creating the first global, energy-referenced currency.[1]

The supply of SolarCoin has been designed to last forty years, delivering incentives for generating 97,500 TWh of solar electricity. With a total market supply of more than US $40 billion to be distributed over the next 35 years, the currency places in the top ten cryptocurrencies behind Bitcoin, Ethereum​ and Ripple.[2][3]

Each coin issued to renewable-energy producers represents an estimated carbon offset equivalent of 680 kilograms of carbon dioxide.[4] To date, the project has granted more than 12 TWh of solar power across 71 countries—the equivalent energy consumed by 12 million US households in a month—well over enough to power the city of Amsterdam and its residents for a full year.[5]

SolarCoin is backed by two forms of proof of work. One is the traditional cryptographic proof of work associated with digital currency. The other proof of work is a third-party verified meter reading representing 1 MWh of generated solar electricity. SolarCoin is equitably distributed using both of these proofs of work as a means to reward solar electricity production.

Counting more than seven million real-time solar monitoring stations in fifty-six countries around the globe—estimated by UN projections to grow to more than 200M over the next decade—the program has been recognized by the United Nations​ and the International Renewable Energy Agency​ (IRENA) as the lowest carbon currency, the largest environmental monitoring experiment, and the largest private renewable energy project in the world.[6][7]

SpaceBelt, orbital cloud storage
SkyGold: SolarCoin​ in space

The project has been covered extensively by international press in thirty countries, with more than 100 featured publications in sources such as Forbes: “How Blockchain is Incentivizing a 5,000 Gigawatt Quest to Save the Planet.”[8]

Solar Array.jpg
Solar Array 2.jpg

Contents

Differences with Bitcoin

SolarCoin is not a replacement for Bitcoin. It is a complementary currency using blockchain technology implemented to incentivize global Solar electricity generation.

* Fork from LiteCoin source code * Hash algorithm: Scrypt * §98.34 billion * SolarCoin mining is 50x more energy efficient than Bitcoin 

Mining

SolarCoin was distributed to a large number of investors through Proof-of-work system (PoW) until September 2014. Since then, the Proof-of-Stake-Time (PoST) has been used because it is far less energy intensive. The transition from PoW to PoST is accompanied by an increase in the scarcity of money, thus, in the long term, increase its price. SolarCoin mining is now only via the production of solar energy.

Grants

Generators of solar energy may receive SolarCoin grants. SolarCoin grants are made at the rate of 15% of Nameplate Capacity. The annual calculation is 365 days X 24 hrs X 15% X Your KW Nameplate Capacity. This works out to 1.314 X the installed KW Nameplate Capacity. The initial SolarCoin grant is retroactive to the install date of the facility or Jan 1, 2010; whichever is more recent. Ongoing SLR grants are made every 6 months based the facility install month.

The first official recipient of a SolarCoin solar electricity generator grant was Lisa Shock, an Arizona resident.

SpaceBelt

The future development of a robust economy in low-Earth orbit (LEO) and beyond calls for a currency capable of supporting both ground-to-orbit and orbit-to-orbit transactions. SolarCoin presents an ideal candidate through both its global humanitarian mission and international footprint in congruence with the virtually unlimited abundance of solar energy in orbit.

Christopher Altman​,

Cofounder and Chief Scientist

In September 2016 SolarCoin partnered with Cloud Constellation, a space-based data storage company scheduled to launch a network of data storage satellites to provide high-speed global cloud storage satellites as a space-based data center designed for the secure transfer and storage of sensitive information. The organization will store its blockchain vault on the satellites for space-based deep cold storage concurrent with live transactions, making it the “first orbital currency.” In September 2017 Cloud Constellation entered into an agreement with Virgin Orbit through its LauncherOne program to deploy twelve of its cloud constellation satellites to low-Earth orbit. Satellite deployment has been scheduled for 2018.

IRENA

SolarCoin has been formally recognized by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), establishing it as the world’s first cryptocurrency to be recognized by an international intergovernmental organisation.

See Also on BitcoinWiki

ElectriCChain Christopher Altman
Nick Gogerty François Sonnet
Luke Johnson Steven Campbell
Stéphanie Verbeke Starlab

External links

References

  1. Cointelegraph. 10 February 2017.
  2. CoinCheckup – Cryptocurrency Analysis Platform. CoinCheckup – Cryptocurrency Analysis Platform. 2018-08-11.
  3. SolarCoin (SLR) price, charts, market cap, and other metrics. CoinMarketCap coinmarketcap.com. Access date 2018-08-11.
  4. Bitcoin-inspired SolarCoin aims to fuel renewable energy boom. 2014-04-16. Georgia Straight Vancouver’s News & Entertainment Weekly. Access date 2018-08-11.
  5. Exclusive SolarCoin Briefing at InterSolar – hosted by BSW-Solar and SolarLux. SolarCoin. solarcoin.org. Access date 2018-08-11.
  6. IRENA at European Utility Week: Spreading Innovation for the Power Sector Transformation Globally. irena.org. Access date 2018-01-13.
  7. Enabling Prosumers to participate in the SolarCoin Energy Transition. European Utility Week Amsterdam. Sonnet, François. October 2017.
  8. How Blockchain Is Incentivizing A 5,000 Gigawatt Quest To Save The Planet. Forbes Magazine. 20 July 2018.