Its creators are describing this new device, SunPort, as wearable technology for electricity cords. The brightly coloured plugs work like a solar adapter, plugging into your domestic electricity sockets and converting the power you use to power from solar sources.
While many people want to switch their electricity usage to solar, they are not able to afford the installation costs of solar panels in their homes. SunPort enables anyone to run their appliances off solar energy.
The SunPort app tracks how much electricity you are using and then automatically buys solar microcredits (known as SunJoules) through the non-profit ReChoice.
Solar power that is produced by solar panels, both domestic and from larger-scale solar farms, is fed into the main electricity grid. The equivalent amount of solar credits is then made available to purchase as credit certificates. Solar Renewable Certificates (S-RECS) are available for corporates to purchase in order to run their offices with the solar power taken from the grid. The solar microcredits are smaller portions of S-RECS, small enough to be used by an individual user at home.
The cost for home users is not increased, but they are not decreased either. For the time being, choosing to upgrade your energy usage to solar from the grid is a lifestyle and impact choice, not an economical one.
SunPort drives us to think differently about what it means to go solar. It gives anyone the ability to use solar energy without having to own a rooftop or install panels. Since SunPort enables drastically increased personal use of solar, it serves as a new mechanism to create and aggregate demand for solar energy. Our hope is that widespread adoption can increase the value of solar energy to the point it unleashes much more solar development across the country. Even moderate use can show our leaders that people are demanding a shift to renewable sources of energy. - Paul Droege, creator of SunPort
Below is a video that explains the way that solar credits and the power grid works, Solar entrepreneurs Paul Droege and Don Hicks created SunPort in order to enable everyone to access clean energy all the time. They are currently raising funds on Kickstarter. For now the SunPort plug only fits US sockets.
