Roger Aitken for Forbes:  Sun Exchange, a peer-to-peer solar equipment leasing marketplace based in South Africa, has raised $1.6 million (m) in seed financing from strategic partners including New York-based Network Society Ventures and three globally leading technology accelerators from the U.S. to “accelerate global access” to solar power. They are also combining blockchain technology and cryptocurrency with solar leases.

Leveraging blockchain and Bitcoin to increase transparency and reduce the costs of the cross-border transactions, both problems that inhibit the majority of commercial solar projects - from accessing traditional funding options - the Solar Energy Marketplace hopes to transform the sector with a few taps on the screen.

With Sun Exchange anyone can buy remotely located solar cells and earn rental income from them. Assets are recorded on the blockchain, and income is paid in crypto-currency - what is dubbed as “streaming monetized sunshine” around the world. And, in the process the protagonists behind the project have asserted that solar energy forms a crucial part of the “save the world tool-kit.”

Members of the market place can have their solar cells installed and rented to hospitals, factories, schools and rural communities in Africa and the Middle East, earning them income from solar powering the developing world.  Full Article: