Imagine that you can buy electricity up to 40% cheaper than what’s on offer from the electricity retailers. At a fixed rate for 25 years – protecting your business from inevitable electricity price hikes.

And just think about all the acres of existing roof space – offices, factories, warehouses – stretching across the country that could be utilised to provide energy at the point of demand for business.  Clean, solar energy.

By now, I’m sure you’re thinking that there must be a catch – you have to go through the hassle of finding someone reputable to install the panels, pay for the installation and the ongoing maintenance of the panels for a pay-back that’s at least a decade away. It’s the reason so few large-scale solar projects exist in Australia. 

And it’s the very problem that inspired me to look at doing solar differently. Enter SolarCloud – it’s solar as it should be. No capex required, no ongoing maintenance.

You would be hard pressed to find anyone who truly believes solar electricity is a bad idea.

It’s free to generate, produces zero emissions and Australia has an abundance of the raw materials. And yet only 1.1% of Australia’s electrical energy is produced using solar PV technology.

Three years ago I started working on a concept where anyone, anywhere could share solar energy – regardless of whether they lived in a rental apartment or owned their own house.

There was no model for how I wanted it to work, so I decided to invent one.

I thought about the way telcos do business – offer the hardware at no cost and charge for the service – and how this could translate to the solar market.

With SolarCloud, in return for being able to use your rooftops to generate energy, SolarCloud will conduct a free energy audit of your business and provide and install LEDs and solar panels which SolarCloud will maintain for the life of the panel.

This style of arrangement - called a Power Purchase Agreement - has been working effectively in the US market for some time. Global business innovators such as Google and Apple have been investing heavily in these arrangements because they see the long-term financial and environmental benefits.

Our first installation of panels will be at Australian Technology Park in the heart of Sydney, and we are geared up to expand quickly.

We’d love to hear from you if you’re interested in being a part of this innovative and disruptive way to produce and purchase power.

Call us directly on (02) 8579 2008 or click here for more information and to register your interest.

John Kennedy is the founder and CEO of SolarCloud. The SolarCloud scheme is ASIC registered and complies with all Australian Financial Services License (AFSL) regulations.