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Australia’s Blockchain Solar Power-Trading Suburbs Take Shape

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Samburaj Das
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A suburb in Fremantle, Western Australia will see its apartment owners to be among the first in the country to trade solar power over a blockchain.

Solar-powered one-bedroom apartments developed by Landcorp, the development arm of the government of Western Australia are reportedly expected to be snapped up by predominantly young dwellers. These apartment-owners will soon be able to trade their any surplus solar energy over a blockchain developed by Power Ledger, a Perth startup that aims to enable owners of solar panels to sell excess energy. This beats the conventional model of selling excess energy for a lower feed-in tariff which is then sold at a higher rate from the grid.

As reported by the Australian Financial Review , Landcorp is offering three ‘Gen Y ’ apartments that will share 9 KW solar panels between them, along with a large 10KWh battery.

Power Ledger co-founder Jemma Green sees massive potential for harnessing solar energy in Australia with apartments representing a quarter of all dwellings in the country. More notably, 35% to 40% of all new developments are apartments, which makes for a viable peer-to-peer energy trading ecosystem, if implemented properly.

Power Ledger is already engaging in blockchain-based solar energy trading trials in the country. The local Australian startup picked a retirement village in Busselton, Western Australia, allowing for users to trade excess solar energy amongst each other. The trial will see Raspberry Pi mini-computers put to use in order to track a house’s energy usage. Energy meters will be fitted at 20 households, along with a communal clubhouse. Actual deployments of the technology are scheduled in 2017 in Victoria and Perth.

New York-based LO3 Energy, a startup which is pushing toward the development of a community microgrid detached from the larger U.S. electricity grid sees blockchain technology to make a telling impact in the energy industry, at a time when there is an increased focus to move away from fossil fuels.

LO3 Energy founder Lawrence Orsini stated:

I think that there are going to be hundreds of blockchain energy companies springing up in the next couple of years. It’s going to be a really interesting time in the energy space.

Image from Shutterstock.

Samburaj Das

Samburaj is Editor of CCN.com, one of the earliest and foremost publications covering blockchain, and financial technology news. Now focusing on Markets, Showbiz, Sports, and Gaming. He has authored over 2,000 articles for CCN.com. Reach him at [email protected]. Visit his LinkedIn profile here .
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