Sun Exchange (www.thesunexchange.com), a global solar micro-leasing marketplace, today announced a new initiative in partnership with rural mini-grid solutions provider, Powerhive (www.powerhive.com), which will utilise the crypto-economy to accelerate global progress towards universal energy access.
More than 1 billion people today still live without electricity, which severely inhibits economic development and basic human rights including health, education, safety and security. Sun Exchange and Powerhive have a shared mission of eliminating global energy poverty by combining sustainable, decentralised solar power with innovative technologies and financial instruments such as blockchain and digital currencies.
Through the new partnership, Powerhive has been named as the exclusive recipient of proceeds designated for solar project pre-financing from sales of the Sun Exchange SUNEX digital rewards token (tse.thesunexchange.com). Powerhive will use the funds for building solar-powered rural electrification mini-grid projects, which include revenue and livelihood enhancing programs throughout sub-saharan Africa. The solar panels that make up these projects will subsequently be offered for sale to Sun Exchange members, who will then be able to own cells within the projects and earn decades of “solar-powered money” from the electricity the projects produce. When fully subscribed, this process is expected to catalyse USD 23 million of capital that will accelerate Powerhive’s solar powered mini-grid roll out, by funding approximately 150 new projects that will provide power to 175,000 people currently lacking power.
In addition to providing utility-grade power to communities, Powerhive operates wealth generation programmes within them, such as the solar-powered chicken incubation ‘Kuku Poa’ initiative. Putting the available solar power to work for productive use drives overall economic development and prosperity, ensuring access to energy remains ever more affordable to the customers buying it.
“The cryptocurrency community is made up of inspired individuals eager for more than just financial gain. Our partnership with Powerhive underscores the SUNEX token sale opportunity to support a crypto project geared directly towards reducing global inequality and climate impact,” said Abraham Cambridge, Founder & CEO, Sun Exchange. “Together, we are working towards a world where no one is forced to cook with unsafe kerosene or wood-burning stoves, no child has to worry about how they will study after dark, and lack of energy access ceases to propel cycles of poverty.”
“Over the past seven years Powerhive has built a vertically integrated platform that allows us to identify, construct and operate the highest quality and lowest cost solar-powered mini-grids in Africa,” said Powerhive Founder and CEO, Christopher Hornor. “At the heart of our projects are the communities we serve. By providing the power platform first and then layering in productive use programmes, we create a virtuous cycle of economic and personal empowerment that provides steady profits for both our customers and our investors. Our partnership with Sun Exchange will now give almost anyone the opportunity to invest in innovative low-carbon development projects in Africa and beyond.”
Through the Sun Exchange online solar panel micro-leasing platform, practically anyone, anywhere across the globe can earn income while helping to bring clean, sustainable, affordable solar power to organisations such as schools, small businesses, hospitals and NGOs in emerging markets. Sun Exchange is currently running a public token sale event for its new digital rewards token, SUNEX, which aims to make the Sun Exchange user experience more lucrative and rewarding.  
Benefits of the SUNEX token include:

• Opportunities to receive up to a 20 percent return in tokens by staking SUNEX tokens into the Sun Exchange Solar Power Insurance Fund (SPIF)
• Access to discounts and lease bonuses when using the Sun Exchange platform, which has been live and operating successfully for several years
• Bancor protocol integration ensures SUNEX token liquidity
• Because Sun Exchange is an affiliate of the SolarCoin Foundation, members earn three digital currency income streams (BTC, SUNEX & SLR) when utilizing the platform
• SUNEX is priced against the US dollar and can be purchased by credit card

Sun Exchange has won global recognition for its disruptive approach to solar finance, built around a cryptocurrency based micro-leasing model. The United Nations Development Program recently selected Sun Exchange to pilot blockchain-based solar finance in Moldova. Additionally, the company won the Mondato Award for Social Impact in Sub Saharan Africa and has been named the best Blockchain Business in Africa at the African Fintech Awards for the past two years running.

About Sun Exchange
Sun Exchange is a buy-to-lease solar marketplace where conscious capital accelerates the global transition to solar energy, making the economic, social and environmental benefits of solar power more accessible and inclusive. For more information visit www.thesunexchange.com.
About Powerhive
Founded in 2011, Powerhive is a leading mini-grid solutions provider and developer whose proprietary technology platform and business model enables the development, financing and management of bankable solar mini-grids in emerging markets. With offices in Berkeley, California and Nairobi, Kenya, the company received early backing from First Solar, Leonardo Dicaprio and other investors that share a vision of universal clean energy access. To learn more, visit www.powerhive.com.