People with access to electricity perhaps cannot envision a life
People with access to electricity perhaps cannot envision a life without it. Nonetheless, the absence of power is an unforgiving reality for 41% of Nigerians. The electricity may be a bit costly in low-income households, and setting up more cost-effective options, for example, solar power, will initially need funds which these citizens just don’t have access to. With the help of blockchain technology, OneWattSolar wants to take this initiative to solve this problem.
Blockchain Lights Up Nigeria
As indicated by CNN, the Logos-based platform intends to light up the people’s lives who live without electricity by getting them to pay for solar power using cryptocurrency, that would be in the form of ERC-20 tokens. The infrastructure for the solar power systems would be compensated by the investors. The platform’s vice president of operations as well as blockchain strategy, Victor Alagbe explained how he thought of the idea, stating –
“I did some writing on Tesla, and so I thought it is sunny most of the time here, especially in the northern parts where it is quite arid. So why don’t we use this to power our electricity… many Nigerians cannot afford to set up their solar systems. They can’t afford the startup cost so most people would rather go for generators which is not economical when you think of maintenance costs.”
Also, Alagbe touched on why blockchain technology is the perfect approach for this initiative, saying –
“It provides transparency. You can see the utilization of funds, how many systems we have purchased and how many are being used.”
In comparison to the maintaining cost of a generator, that’s how some resident gets their power from, and the cost of conventional electricity currently being provided to the citizens, Alagbe tells that it’s a new “blockchain system that is 50% cheaper than diesel.”