In this episode of the podcast, I speak to Abraham Cambridge. Abe is the founder and CEO of The Sun Exchange, which is an online solar energy marketplace. In short, the company provides a platform to buy solar panels in the sunniest places on earth. When the panels produce electricity, the owners receive payment in bitcoin. In Abe’s words, the company acts as a market maker between solar panel manufacturers, installers, buyers and customers.
It’s a great model, because the work they do is accelerating the transition to clean energy while also helping communities and businesses access cheap energy – and also providing a good return on investment for the people providing the capital.
The Sun Exchange bypasses the traditional networks of energy and finance using a few innovative new technologies, including bitcoin. And in our conversation, we assume a bit of knowledge about bitcoin. So, if you’re not familiar with it, I can highly recommend doing some reading. I’ve found that learning about bitcoin is actually a great way to learn about the world in general. Because you will touch on topics like history, economics, finance, cryptography, computer science, game theory and psychology.
Here are a couple of resources I’ve found useful for understanding the history and technical aspects of Bitcoin:
- Digital Gold – Nathaniel Popper
- The Bitcoin Standard – Saifedean Ammous
- The Internet of Money – Andreas Antonopoulos
- The following video by 3blue1brown:
And finally, more bitcoin resources, as well as links to all the books and websites we mention in the episode, can be found in the show notes below.
You can find Abe and The Sun Exchange online here:
- Twitter: @AbeCambridge and @thesunexchange
- YouTube
- Medium
SHOW NOTES
02:54 Abe explains the Sun Exchange concept
04:21 The decentralised nature of both solar energy and the bitcoin network
06:58 Abe’s dealings with the worlds of traditional finance and energy: banks refused to set up accounts for the Sun Exchange
10:31 Why the Sun Exchange uses bitcoin, as opposed to other cryptocurrencies
13:10 Bringing the model of leasing to the solar industry
14:33 The Sun Exchange enables people to own solar panels in areas of the world that are the sunniest – people are not forced to just put panels on their own roofs.
15:38 The energy use and sustainability of bitcoin. Comparing bitcoin energy use to that of the current global financial system. This article debunks some media reports of bitcoin energy use
19:16 Abe’s experience in Australia
20:01 The exponential growth of solar
20:23 Energy literacy
23:33 The reasons why the Sun Exchange fund mid-size industrial and commercial solar projects. And why they don’t do domestic or utility-scale projects
27:11 Abe’s opinion on nuclear energy
32:09 The potential impacts of climate change
32:38 Electrifying global energy use, as well as de-carbonising electricity, eg electric air travel
35:35 Tangled Ep. 5, with Thomas Mason, discussing urban agriculture; Tangled Ep. 6, with Nadine Galle, discussing how to make cities greener
35:56 Abe’s opinion on any potential competitors
38:06 The flexibility of the Sun Exchange’s business model, eg remaining brand agnostic
40:56 Plans to add supplementary functions to solar microgrids, eg water purification, cryptocurrency mining, internet access
41:45 Powerhive
45:35 The development of the cryptocurrency industry
47:10 Future plans for The Sun Exchange: expand outside South Africa, build in integration with the bitcoin Lightning Network (details here)
51:26 Sustainable Energy: Without the Hot Air – David MacKay
52:20 Cryptocurrency: How Bitcoin and Digital Money are Challenging the Global Economic Order – Paul Vigna & Michael J. Casey
52:51 Money: The Unauthorised Biography – Felix Martin
54:27 Why energy needs to always have a value, no matter how cheap it’s possible for us to harness it