SolarVille Sustainable Energy Community

Press Kit

Unique Properties

Solarville showcases how combining solar panels with blockchain technology could make clean energy more affordable and accessible for the many. SolarVille is a fully functioning prototype, built to a 1:50 scale: some households have installed solar panels to become makers and traders of clean energy, while others automatically purchase the electricity generated in their local community. As a result, SolarVille is a cooperative micro-grid that makes a community self-sufficient.

Dimensions & Packaging

Pallet #1 W80cm x L130cm x H200cm
Pallet #2 W80cm x L130cm x H170cm

Otherwise table on its own has a footprint of 300cm x 150cm

Production Technology

Solarville is made thorugh outfitting houses within a community with rooftop solar panels and inverters that harness the energy of the sun and store it within batteries systems found under the home. This energy can then be redistributed through a wiring system connected to other households, creating a standalone micro-grid. Blockchain distributed ledger technology is then used to log and manage the energy flow—verifying and recording transactions, and self-executing when certain conditions are met.

Design Challenge

An important design decision was to develop an inclusive architectural language that combined building details and city structures from different cultures and countries—so SolarVille didn’t speak to one part of the world while alienating others. We compiled a comparative study with well known and celebrated city structures from around the world, building a small archive of unique building details that spoke to cultural contexts on a global scale.

Project Duration

Project began in September 2018 and launched February 2019. Solarville is now going on tour and will be shown first in Nairobi at the UN Habitat, and then will move on to locations such as Delhi and Shenzhen.

Operation Flow

Solarville reimagines energy systems in the pursuit of democratising access to clean energy and empowering hyper-localized economies in order to meet this steep demand. To do this, Solarville utilises two key developments: combining solar power with blockchain technology to create cooperative micro-grids in local communities, which is both tamper free, secure against hacking and protected against central governance.

Research

Alongside the project, we’ve also released a report called ‘A Brighter Tomorrow’, which lends more insights into the research behind SolarVille. More importantly, it makes the case for solar power becoming the viable, sustainable source of energy we need to turn to if we want to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Inspiration

Today, around 1.1 billion people around the world still have little or no access to electricity. The challenge is that the centralised energy systems we have in place are often too slow and economically inadequate to reach the billion people who remain locked in energy poverty.Solarville presents a solution to this global problem. Alongside empowering people with electricity, the community buys its electricity from within, which means the money stays in the community.

Colors of SolarVille Sustainable Energy Community