SolarCoin’s vision is to incentivize a solar-powered planet. SolarCoin is designed as a reward for solar energy producers, who help to drive this vision. SolarCoin has deliberately chosen this design as rewards drive action. SolarCoin offsets the cost of electricity, enabling solar installations to be paid off more quickly. We are on a mission to accelerate the global energy transition by rewarding solar producers with the first energy-referenced currency.

SolarCoin is a reward for solar energy producers. The SolarCoin Foundation grants blockchain-based digital tokens at the rate of one SolarCoin (SLR) per one Megawatt Hour (MWh) of solar energy produced. ​

SolarCoin is granted freely to solar energy producers of any size. It does not replace other incentives such as government subsidies, renewable energy credits or carbon credits.

Whoever produces solar power may receive SolarCoin.

SolarCoin is a digital asset using a low carbon blockchain to encourage solar energy production globally. This drives the transition from a fossil-fuel economy to a solar-backed economy.

Think of SolarCoin like air-miles for Solar electricity generation – only better because it is an open economic ecosystem. You are not tied to one company for spending or redeeming your solarcoin. You can use SolarCoin like any currency for any transaction you wish.

Solar energy, unlike fossil fuels, does not place excess heat or carbon into the atmosphere. Solar energy is the largest and most democratic renewable energy source. Wind, hydro, geothermal and biomass energy sources combined don’t add up to the amount of solar energy landing on Earth’s surface every day.

These other energy sources often require industrial-implementations to be cost-effective. With solar, even small groups or individuals can use solar panels for energy production. Solar energy costs are decreasing rapidly as more solar energy systems get deployed. This 40 yr trend is called Swanson’s law. Solar Energy is already cheaper than any Fossil Fuel in over 30 countries without subsidy. (IRENA)

SolarCoin is spendable and tradeable for goods or services, bitcoin or major currencies. SolarCoin incentivizes real-world economic and environmental activity: verifiably produced solar energy.

By using SolarCoin, you actively contribute to providing an incentive for solar energy production. At the same time, SolarCoin is fully usable to make payments for other digital or foreign currencies.

SolarCoin is global, decentralized, and independent of any government. As such you are not depending on a government making decisions on your receipt or use of the reward.

SolarCoin puts protecting natural capital at its foundation. The concept of “natural capital” aims to value the world’s stocks of natural assets (geology, soil, air, water and living things). SolarCoin is the first sustainable currency. Usage as a currency, bring users environmental concerns to the very foundation of economic activity.

This is reflected in our choice of technology: SolarCoin’s blockchain uses a low energy proof of stake algorithm designed to use less than 0.001% of the power of Bitcoin when deployed on similar scales.

SolarCoin is a reward token based on low carbon blockchain technology.

Like any currency protocol, price is a function of supply and demand on an open market.  Supply is created as new SolarCoin are issued into circulation. SolarCoin’s value is believed like most currencies to be emergent from network effects. Like fiat currency, there is no “backing” or guarantee by any party of a redemption utility for the SolarCoin currency protocol.

According to the Network Theory of currency created by one of the founders of SolarCoin, demand is a function of the participants willing to hold, use or accept SolarCoin. Demand seems to have a value range and be measured for various currency protocols. This is a working theory only.

A research paper discussing 50 Fiat currencies, Gold, Bitcoin and SolarCoin in the context of Network Capital theory is available for download here. This research paper and any comments associated with it are not a recommendation to buy or sell SolarCoin.

No.

To be in full regulatory and legal compliance, the SolarCoin Foundation continuously maintains and updates our operating list of suspended regions and countries. The SolarCoin Foundation always seeks to comply with all local, regional and national laws and regulations.

The blockchain token regulatory and operating environment is a rapidly changing one. As rules and regulations change we update or restrict our activities and compliance policies accordingly.  

Regions and actors may become unable to receive grants for regulatory or legal reasons.  When this occurs, the SolarCoin Foundation suspends grants to a region or specific actors.

Should regulatory changes occur in a suspended region allowing for the SolarCoin operation to operate, the grants to solar energy producers may be re-initiated retroactively to Jan 2010 or the date of last grant received.

The SolarCoin foundation is a US based organization and as such complies with all US laws and regulations including sanctions issued by the US Treasury OFAC.   

The list of SolarCoin Foundation suspended regions includes:

1. Balkans
2. ​Belarus
3. ​Burundi
4. ​Central African Republic
5. ​Cuba
6. ​Democratic Republic of the Congo
7. ​Iran
8. ​Iraq
9. ​Lebanon
10. ​Libya  
11. ​Nicaragua
12. ​​North Korea
13. Russia
14. ​​Somalia
15. ​Sudan and Darfur
16. ​South Sudan
17. ​Syria
18. ​​Ukraine (Russia related sanctions)
19. ​Venezuela
20. ​Yemen
21. ​Zimbabwe

Should you believe your facility or place of generation / ownership is exempt please submit a ticket at info@solarcoin.org stating the reason believed for the exemption.

The SolarCoin foundation does not share, resell or in any way redistribute PII (personal identifiable information) unless requested to do so be recognized tax or legal authorities.

The filing of a claiming to SolarCoin using false data on behalf of a facility not owned by the claimant may constitute a fraudulent act in some countries.

Every owner of a solar installation can claim SolarCoins subject to legal and regulatory restrictions such as those listed in the prior question.

An exception to this rule are rooftop installations smaller than 20kW in size. For these installations the owner of the building can claim SolarCoins. Why this exception to the rule? Many smaller systems are leased or financed. The SolarCoin mission is to incentivize solar electricity generation.

Grants to large generators are important, but so is growing the economically engaged community of SolarCoin participants and holders. Residents of homes with residential generating solar facilities are often the primary consumers of that electricity. The SolarCoin Foundation believes that incentivizing the residential consumer directly creates a larger participating economic network of SolarCoin users and incentivizes Solar electricity generation.

SolarCoin are currently granted in 63 countries – with more countries joining all the time.

To receive a SolarCoin grant, installation owners register their installation and claim their SolarCoin with the SolarCoin Foundation, at the Foundation website or via a partner like SMA.

Once registered, the Foundation issues SolarCoins on a monthly basis directly to the owner’s digital SolarCoin wallet address.

SolarCoins can be granted retroactive to 5 years from the date of the initial claim. If your facility is older than 5 years old, claim now. Each day missed is lost SolarCoin.

SolarCoins are received and collected in a digital wallet. They can be used as currency, or stored long-term in an offline (paper) wallet. SolarCoin can be used for payments with a growing number of businesses or traded for other currencies on global cryptocurrency exchanges. Find an overview of SolarCoin Wallets here.

Note: The SolarCoin Foundation does not operate, endorse or advocate any specific software, service or exchange. Users of such services do so at their own risk. Please research your local and personal operational risks, tax implications and regulatory implications of any software or service before using it.

Currently, SolarCoins are granted based on estimated solar production. SolarCoin grants are made at the rate of 15% of Nameplate Capacity:

This annual calculation is 365 days X 24 hrs X 15% X Your KW Nameplate Capacity/1000, or roughly 1.314 X of your installed KW Nameplate Capacity. Various international groups recommend or accept this methodology as a proxy for solar electricity generation.

The initial SolarCoin grant is retroactive to the installation date of your facility or Jan 1, 2010; whichever is more recent. Ongoing SLR grants are then made every month.

As SolarCoin develops its technology further, grants will be made based on actual power produced. Follow our announcements to hear when this is happening.

Note: A 10% Network Development fee is charged at the time of grant distribution by the SolarCoin Foundation on facilities greater than 20KW Nameplate Capacity to support hard and soft infrastructure development maintenance, and solar-related projects.

• Proof of Ownership (PoO) of the installation

As SolarCoins are granted to the owners of solar installations, false claims need to be avoided and claimants musts provide PoO documentation as part of the process.

• Know-your-Device (KYD) documentation,

SolarCoin needs to ensure that solar installations can only be registered once to avoid double counting and granting. For this reason, a unique registration of every solar installation is needed

• power production data or Know-your-Energy (KYE)

The SLF needs to know that energy is produced from a solar installation. Relevant documentation is needed for the registration process.

• Know-your-Customer (KYC) compliance documentation.

The SLF needs to be able to identify claimants. For this reason, claimants must undergo KYC procedures to be eligible to receive SLR.

The Affiliates can guide you through the registration process. It is not as difficult as it may seem.

SolarCoins representing 97,500 TeraWatt hours of solar energy generation are held in reserve publicly visible wallets:

• §33.7 Million SolarCoins (0.1%) have been mined using Proof of Work before the shift to Proof of Stake. All mined SolarCoins are deemed to represent historically generated and unclaimed solar electricity prior to 2010.
• §97.5 Billion SolarCoins (99.4%) are stored in the SolarCoin trust, a non-circulating generator pool account. These are exchanged for ongoing claimed solar electricity generation. The intention is to have these managed in by 3rd party independent trustees.
• §500 Million SolarCoins (0.5%) less initial development costs are stored in the SolarCoin trust genesis pool account for founders. The Genesis pool is also used as lender of last resort and resource to insure the SolarCoin Foundation delivers its mission. To prevent hyper-inflationary spikes, the Genesis pool circulation is restricted to never being more than 5% of total SolarCoin in circulation.
• Current SolarCoin in circulation and in the reserve wallets can be observed with a SolarCoin Blockchain Explorer.

The SolarCoin Foundation (SCF) now funds and leads SolarCoin tech development. It does this through the Network Development Fund and via the Genesis pool as lender of last resort. The SolarCoin Foundation is a Mission maximizing vs. Return maximizing organization. It seeks to accelerate the transition to Solar energy.  Once the resources and flows from the NDF mature, it may engage in charitable grants for R&D or incentives for rural development in LDCs (lesser developed countries.)

The scale and scope of the NDF SLR inflows may allow for the NDF 10% assessment to be reduced at a point in the future.

A 10% Network Development Fee (NDF) is charged at the time of grant distribution by the SolarCoin Foundation on installations greater than 20 KW Nameplate Capacity to support technology, marketing, governance, market development and infrastructure maintenance for the community and solar-related projects. The fund is administered by the SolarCoin Council and used to develop tools and materials associated with growing and maintaining the SolarCoin network.  The network development fund is visible in the blockchain explorer.

The SolarCoin affiliate network grows the network of participants incentivized by SLR bounties from the NDF.

It is assumed that at a point in the future, the Network Development fund may be large enough to distribute to rural solar energy projects and charitable activities agreed to by the SolarCoin Council.

The Network Development Fund inflows and outflows are all visible in the Blockchain explorer.  The Current NDF primary balance can be seen at this address. https://chainz.cryptoid.info/slr/address.dws?8YHNSsVVMj6TMJaPuvVEshjejkNJh76yB7.htm  

In the event of an NDF short-fall in operating funds, the SCF may borrow SLR interest free from the available circulating Genesis pool SLR.

There are a few ways to create a SolarCoin wallet. The primary options:

1. The official SolarCoin QT full node desktop-based wallet is available for download from www.solarcoin.org. This wallet application is a full node that helps maintain the integrity of the SolarCoin network. It requires time and several gigabytes of drive space to sync the blockchain upon installation.
2. Leaving the wallet open and active contributes to supporting the SolarCoin network using a method known as ‘staking’. Staking provides the wallet owner with a targeted 2% annual return in SLR. Staking requires a small portion of CPU capacity.

Regardless of wallet choice, safeguarding the wallet’s private keys and submitting the receiving public address accurately for claims and bounties are the sole responsibility of the user.

The SCF is not responsible for lost SLR due to lost passphrases, compromised wallets, software failures, or incorrectly entered receiving addresses. The SCF is unable to recover any SLR once they have been sent. The SCF can not recover forgotten or lost passphrases. The SCF cannot recover stolen SolarCoin or claims mis-appropriated.

Download your own SolarCoin Qt wallet by following this simple 2-step process :

Step 1: Download the SolarCoin Qt wallet software for your operating system from the official SolarCoin website.

Step 2: Install the SolarCoin Qt wallet software and wait for the software to download a snapshot of the blockchain. This may take some time 20 minutes to hours depending on your machine and internet connection speed.

step 3: Back up your passphrase on a few pieces of paper.  Make a back-up or 2 of your wallet.dat file and place it in a remote safe place.

Note: The wallet will need to synchronize with the network after downloading the snapshot, this process may take a few hours. You can close the wallet at any time during this process, when reopened it will continue where it left off until the synchronization is complete.

To receive your SolarCoin, the sender needs your SolarCoin address.  A SolarCoin address is a long string of letters and numbers starting with a number 8. Example 8TeBVh1U9jtUkKYJ1cUcf8352tA1RVNZcW

Open the “Receive” tab to view your current addresses, then select the address you wish to receive the SolarCoin into and click “copy address”. Paste and send this address to anyone who would like to send you SolarCoin.

To send SolarCoin

1. You need the recipient’s SolarCoin address (it should look like something like this 8LKwfeiPuyh6qkQjfiDFftJchgRj9ab72m).
2. Select the “Send” tab and paste the address in the “Pay To” blank field. You may also enter the recipient’s name in the “Label” field for future transactions. You may also create a publicly-viewable transaction message in the “Comment” field.

Enter the amount of SolarCoin to send in the “Amount” field and press “Send”. The recipient should receive their SolarCoin within 4-to-6 minutes. The transaction will be visible in the blockchain by using a blockchain explorer such as https://chainz.cryptoid.info/slr/#.

The first thing to do after downloading your wallet is to “encrypt” it. Select the “Settings” tab followed by “encrypt wallet”. A popup will appear asking for a New Passphrase to be entered twice. If you lose your passphrase your SolarCoins will be lost forever. By design for security, there is no recovery service.

Like any important data on your computer it is important to backup your wallet file to a seperate secure place. Select the “File” tab followed by “Backup Wallet”. Browse to the folder you wish to save the backup to and name the file “wallet” and save. Remove the Backup File from your computer and store it in a safe place (USB drive…)

Remember neither: The SolarCoin Foundation or any affiliate should ever ask you for your passphrase or a copy of your wallet.dat file.

You must have a backup in order to recreate your wallet onto a new computer. Assuming you followed the instructions above and created your backup wallet, follow the next steps.

Step 1: Install the SolarCoin Qt wallet software as described and run the program once installed.

Step 2: Close the program.

Step 3: Browse to the following default folder…
Windows: C:Users{YourUserName}AppdataRoamingSolarCoin
Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/SolarCoin/

Linux: ~/.solarcoin

Note: These folders may be hidden, in this case you will need to view hidden folders on your operating system.

Step 4: Copy and paste your Backup “wallet.dat” file directly into the opened SolarCoin folder. This will replace the currently existing file with your backup.

Step 5: Run the SolarCoin Qt wallet software once more. You will see that your old wallet is now back.

If you lose your passphrase the SolarCoin foundation, affiliates etc. have no way of recovering access to the SolarCoin. This is security by design that puts responsibility and control with you the user.

There are 3rd party recovery services that may be able to “crack” easier passphrases with brute force computation methods for a fee. SolarCoin Foundation does not endorse or recommend any of these specific services.

If you lose your wallet.dat file, your SolarCoins are likely lost forever.  Please make back-ups of your wallet.dat file and passphrases. Store these copies off site in secure locations.

SolarCoin’s blockchain is maintained by a POST (Proof of Stake Time) consensys algo which is derived using the Vericoin approach.

Proof-of-stake is an alternative to proof-of -work (PoW) blockchains. At a future scenario of 30-50m users, Proof of Stake has been estimated by the SolarCoin Foundation to be 10,000 times more efficient that the Bitcoin Network.

Instead of having miners solve computational puzzles (PoW), in PoS the right to forge blocks is awarded to those that have a proven stake in the Blockchain. Practically, that means you can use your SolarCoins and “stake” them. If you put 100 SolarCoins at stake, you will earn a targeted* 2% interest rate per year.

Note the 2% is probabilistic, not deterministic and so is not a guaranteed rate of return on staked coins.

More technical information is available here: https://www.vericoin.info/downloads/VeriCoinPoSTWhitePaper10May2015.pdf

SolarCoin uses the Proof of Stake algorithm (Proof of Stake Time) which enables users to stake their SolarCoin with a targeted annual interest rate of 2%. This Staking activity is only available to individual running a full SolarCoin node. The interest earning transactions are also publicly visible in the SolarCoin Blockchain.

The current SolarCoin consensus algorithm allows staking to occur for as long as the network is functioning.

These messages are  confirmation transaction IDs for solar energy grants from the SolarCoin Foundation. Each grant is recorded on the blockchain for future reference and transparency. The format for the message is as follows:

Final blockchain message transaction ID = AGRT-US-85032-01-5.64-01-2011/07/01-2013/07/01

Taxonomy:

Transfer Type: AGRT = Initial SolarCoin Grant, PGRT = Periodic SolarCoin Grant, BGRT = Bounty Grant

Generator UID: assigned incrementally by database to track unique facilities

Nameplate Capacity: declared in KW at the point and time of interconnect or most recent update if expanded/damaged

Claimant UID: assigned incrementally by database to track unique claimants

SolarCoin uses a proof of Stake Algorithm to maintain consensys and integrity of the blockchain.  This approach requires minimal computing effort. As of mid 2018, it is estimated that Bitcoin will consume $3-5bn in resources based on the marginal mining reward available.  This supports 12k nodes used by an estimated 30m users of bitcoin.

If SolarCoin were running at the same scale our estimates are that it would consume $250-500k USD/year to support the same number of nodes and users.  This is about 10,000 times more energy efficient.

SolarCoin was launched in 2014 as an open community project run by volunteers and the founders of the SolarCoin Foundation, a Delaware (U.S.A) registered Public Benefit Corporation. Founders of the SolarCoin Foundation are Nick Gogerty and Joseph Zitoli, who had the idea for creating an energy referenced currency which is derived from an academic paper: DeKo: An Electricity-referenced Currency Proposal. 

The SolarCoin Foundation manages the distribution of SolarCoins to claimants and contributes to maintaining and improving the project and its infrastructure, particularly the SolarCoin Blockchain. It does so, however, honoring the open community approach it adopted since 2014 and involves Affiliates and the Community.

SolarCoin started as a community effort so community is what binds us. Community with shared vision and passion for the 40-year mission to accelerate the energy transition to renewable electricity is our focus.  Many people come to SolarCoin bringing different skills, levels of interest and perspectives. SolarCoin encourages several channels of exchange and ways of cooperation.

Note: the Community resources listed below and those not listed are 3rd party independent services. The SolarCoin Foundation does not endorse and is not responsible for and can not guarantee the truthfulness of  the content messages, participants or advice offered on these platforms.

Each facility is allowed a single claimant or individual claiming on behalf of the facility. In the event of multiple claimants, a single claimant must come forward. In the event of a dispute before or after a claim has been applied for or granted, the SCF will suspend granting until the dispute is resolved. The SCF makes no guarantee of the approval of any current, future or historical claim.

PPA and other contractual assignments of “environmental attributes”

1. 1. The SolarCoin foundation treats any solar facility as if 3 streams or flows emerge from it.
      1. Black Stream: the cash flow or benefits received from selling / using electricity
      2. Green Stream: Any environmental attribute that is available due to the facilities production of energy
      3. Gold Stream: The solarcoin reward
   2. For PPA’s determining who is entitled to the Gold SolarCoin stream is the job of the PPA holder/owners to resolve. Each PPA contract and legal jurisdictional interpretation may vary.

The SCF grants to a single entity for each facility, no exceptions.

This is done to simplify the relationships and payment. If there is a dispute over the claim or recipient allocation of solarcoin, the SolarCoin foundation will suspend all claims until the dispute is resolved.

At no time does the SolarCoin foundation imply or make statements in regards to the official ownership of a facility. If asked by a recognized legal or regulatory authority, the SolarCoin foundation or recognized affiliate may provide information related to the claimant and facility.

Yes, you may exit the program at any time by filing a request. Any records or requirements for data protection must be maintained as per the KYC and data retention policies.  The right to be forgotten and other GDPR related rights will be respected.

SolarCoin is now using POST algorithm (Proof of Stake Time) which enables users to stake their SolarCoin with a targetted interest rate of 2%. This Staking activity is available to individuals running a full SolarCoin node. The interest earning transactions are also publicly visible in the SolarCoin Blockchain.

Off-grid facilities are currently eligible for SolarCoin grants at the rate of 15% of Nameplate Capacity provided documentation is submitted verifying the nameplate capacity, ownership, installation date, and location.

Currently, many countries have reduced or eliminated their subsidies for solar power. As a result, SolarCoin may represent a new and needed alternative for incentivizing solar facilities. For an installer, SolarCoin represents an alternative free revenue for promoting solar power and the use of renewable energies.

Many utilities are exploring SolarCoin as a marketing program. Distributing SolarCoin to retail facility owners can be a way of sending a positive message with each bill. In addition it builds awareness of Solar, brand equity and can offer an additional revenue stream if extra digital services are offered billed in SolarCoin.  Contact an affiliate to learn more.

SolarCoin is an independent reward. There is no cost. We view Solar facilities as generating 3 revenue streams:

1. Black stream: income received from generating selling electricity
2. Green stream: income or benefits received from the environmental attributes of generating green energy (often given or managed by a government mechanism)
3. Gold stream: SolarCoin earned by generating and verifying energy is a free opportunity to participate in the global SolarCoin economy

Each of the streams are seperate.  Please consult with your local govt in regards to the impacts of claiming solarcoin relative to other incentive mechanisms.

Data collection and retention will be subject to the guiding principles of the EU GDPR regime in regards to personally identifiable information (PII).

The SolarCoin Foundation has retained a financial compliance specialist to maintain Know Your Customer (KYC) / Anti-Money Laundering (AML) processes and compliance in regards to financial record keeping. You can find these in the Resource section.

Power producer, claimant, and Affiliate PII (personally identifiable information) and production data gathered by either Affiliates or the SCF may audited by a SCF-retained third party. PII also may be sent to a third party KYC service provider for identify verification and compliance.

In the event that a recognized, relevant government regulatory body requests information for tax or reporting purposes, data will be made available.

The data is not used or shared internally or externally in any other way.

All data sent to the SCF is encrypted by default. Claims being processed via the website are handled by a monitored and constantly updated Drupal installation, those sent in via the SolarCoin API used by the affiliates are done over TLS and require a registered token. Claims data and tokens are stored in an encrypted database.

Summary production data is published onto the SolarCoin blockchain alongside the Grant issuance transaction using an anonymous ID associated with the facility and postcode. The data is placed in the TX message space at the time of granting.

E.g. AGRT-AU-3059-274-3-100-2014/11/24-2015/05/01 (live link: https://chainz.cryptoid.info/slr/tx.dws?837125.htm)

also see the FAQ “I see some odd-looking messages in the blockchain, like AGRT-US-85032-01-5.64-01-2011/07/01-2013/07/01. What are they??”

SolarCoin grant receipt, function & performance

Non-recourse

• No guarantee of SolarCoin delivery, transferability or functionality at a physical, informational or economic function is implied or guaranteed by the SolarCoin Foundation.
• SolarCoin implies no financial claim or recourse from the issuer, recipient or any other actors within or outside of the SolarCoin ecosystem.
• SolarCoin Foundation does not warrant or guarantee the operation or service level of the SolarCoin blockchain or any related software or services.
• SolarCoin may suspend the issuance or transfer of any grant for any reason and is not required to offer an explanation such non-grant approval.

Non implied future grant guarantee

• SolarCoin grant is a purely conditional transfer. It can be considered a gift or grant with no recourse or obligation to be given or granted.

SolarCoin is not a substitute for proof of generation

• Not a Guarantee of Origin (GO) under EU regulation
• Not a Solar Renewable Energy Credit (SREC)
• Not a proof of energy production for any purpose

Software is made available under the MIT X11 license

• Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the “Software”), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
• The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
• THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

Taxation and reporting

• SolarCoin may be subject to taxation for the recipient, holder or sender. This liability and the reporting of this liability are the sole responsibility of the recipient. The SolarCoin Foundation is not responsible for the filing or reporting of any claims granted, distributions, interest earned from staking or other activities related to distributed SolarCoin.
• SolarCoin files information reports for those claims required by the US taxation authorities. Generally speaking in the US. SolarCoin is considered a gift with a value of the market rate as determined at the time of transfer as recorded in the blockchain.  Different local, state and national tax treatment and acceptance are likely. Complying with the local laws and regulations is up to the recipient of the SolarCoin grant.
• SolarCoin may withhold, suspend or not issue claims to individuals or solar generating facilities which consider the SolarCoin grant illegal or which might incur costs, duties or taxes upon the entity sending, distributing or processing SolarCoin.

Guarantee of Origin (GO) and Feed-in Tariffs (FiTs)

• SolarCoin is not to be confused with a GO or FiT. It is not and should not be presented as a substitute, replacement or in any way related to a guarantee of origin.

An individual or entity claiming to represent the ownership of a facility may be liable for fraud if they are not the facility owner (or, in the case of a <20kw facility, the inhabitant of the home under or associated with the generating facility by means of consumption.)  

The actual owners of a facility may file civil or criminal fraud charges against the fraudulent claimant who claims and receives SolarCoin on their behalf.

Records are retained with transactions recorded on the blockchain which means fraudulent transactions may possibly be traced in the future.

IRENA IGO with 160 nation states as members has accepted the SolarCoin Foundation into their coalition for action.  

SolarPower Europe has recognized SolarCoin.

ACWA Power a $30bn Independent Power Producer has received solarcoin.  

To date 14 TWh have been distributed to over 4,500 facilities in 73 countries.

New facilities are on boarded every month.

A list of individuals accepting or willing to accept SolarCoin may be maintained by 3rd party(ies).  

The SCF does not support, maintain or endorse the list, its suppliers or the integrity of the offerings.  This minimizes legal risk and exposure to the SCF as open ecosystems are by design impossible to monitor and regulate relative to all actors, actions, intentions and regulatory permutations.

Merchant tools for payment gateways, forex risk management and shopping carts are planned for the future.

Generally speaking, the SCF does not recommend, endorse or encourage the use of any specific service or provider.

This policy is in place to protect the SCF from risk or lawsuit in the event that a 3rd party service provider engages in activity that may technically fail, be considered illegal in a jurisdiction at a given time or be perceived differently by different groups in the community etc.  

In the case of affiliates, the SCF encourages users, claimants and other to choose the provider or services they feel most comfortable with and that they are willing to trust. The SCF assumes no liability for the actions of affiliates or third-party providers.