The Sun Exchange, a solar energy financier based in South Africa, has been using crowdfunding to finance small, local solar microgrids.
The Exchange “runs an online buy-to-lease marketplace for solar cells, where investors can buy solar equipment that is then leased to rural communities to help them run businesses,” as CEO Abe Cambridge explains. “As the businesses make a profit, investors get a rental income over 20 years—and poor communities get access to clean energy without the big up-front costs often associated with installing renewable energy.”
Sample projects include:
• a 473 kW solar power supply for Nioro Plastics in Cape Town. Nioro Plastics manufacture bottles with post-consumer recycled plastic.
• a 117.5 kW solar power supply for Sacred Heart College, Johannesburg.
• a 60 kW Solar Garden in Knysna Elephant Park, South Africa.
• Kuka Poa (“smart poultry” in Swahili) project, in which a microgrid supplied by Powerhive Inc. runs a hatchery and enables smallholders to raise chicks for sale.