Sun Exchange
Carbon Credits from solar projects powering 27 high-impact social projects and businesses in South Africa.
If you are a business that is committed to high social impact, net zero emissions and equitable energy access, then you should consider purchasing Sun Exchange’s carbon credits. These carbon credits are a powerful way to reduce your emissions, support renewable energy, and improve your ESG performance.
Global leasing platform
Sun Exchange is a South Africa-based global solar leasing platform that allows anyone around the world to own and earn income from solar panels powering schools, retirement homes, commercial farms and other organisations in South Africa. Sun Exchange is selling carbon credits generated from these solar projects, which are operated and managed by the company. Sun Exchange’s solar projects are backed by 20-year leases.
The credits will offset your carbon footprint while having demonstrable social impact, reducing pollution and addressing South Africa’s energy crisis.
The 27 projects include:
- 11 Schools
- 5 Retirement homes
- 7 Farms and wine estates
- 4 Supermarkets/malls and other businesses
The projects for schools and retirement homes provide clean and affordable solar energy that benefits approximately 11,845 student/learners each year, and 620 elderly retirement home residents.
Credible Carbon is committed to accelerating the uptake of grid-tied renewable energy, recognising that the pace of the transition is critical to the amount of GHG that ends up in the atmosphere.
Trading Period
Project commencement date: 1 January, 2020
Project period: 21 years
Project Benefits
Established in 2015, Sun Exchange uses a crowdfunded model to make the benefits of solar available to small to medium organisations.
Sun Exchange’s carbon credits offer a solution to South Africa’s energy crisis and pollution problem while helping small to medium organisations transition to clean energy. By purchasing Sun Exchange’s carbon credits, businesses can help to reduce their emissions and support the development of renewable energy in South Africa. Proceeds of this sale of carbon credits will even go onto fund more solar projects, catalysing an ongoing energy transition.
There are several benefits to investing in Sun Exchange’s carbon credits:
- Help to reduce your emissions and support the roll-out of renewable energy in South Africa.
- Improve your ESG (environmental, social, and governance) performance given the high impact nature of the solar projects generating the credits.
- Drive a chain reaction of further solar energy roll-out.
Half the carbon revenue generated from the sale of carbon credits will be used to subsidise tariffs at poorer schools and other social impact projects. The fund will not be formally constituted at this stage but rather managed an allocation within the company’s accounting records.
Testimonial
We're proud to be associated with Sun Exchange… as part of our vision at Cars.co.za to protect our environment and be a carbon negative business. This project gave us the ability to align with a progressive business and effectively achieve our major environmental goals for 2022.
Sustainable Development Goals
Sun Exchange enables the financing of micro-scale projects and, in the process, they have a positive impact on poverty reduction (SDG 1), employment (SDG 8), education (SDG 4), affordable and clean energy (SDG 7) and sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11). The organisation is a good example of a small green economy business that creates jobs, reduces poverty, and which has a positive impact on the environment, society and broader stakeholders. Sun Exchange currently employs 28 people.
A growing number of Sun Exchange project sites are at schools and retirement homes. In addition, the organisation has committed to the formation of a fund to reduce electricity tariffs at poorer schools and other organisations which will unlock the ability to roll out solar PV to a broader customer base.
Sun Exchange Project Idea Note
A Project Idea Note (PIN) was drawn up to formalise the project scope with regards to carbon credits.
Audits
The project’s first audit was for the period 2020 to 2022 was completed in April 2023. This audit indicates that, based on the information contained in the PIN and that available in the public domain, the Sun Exchange offering meets the requirements of Credible Carbon for inclusion in the registry. Furthermore, the calculations to convert electricity savings into emissions savings were found to be correct and the project is thus considered suited for generating carbon credits for sale
Project List
| Boland Wine Cellar | 472.7 | 100% |
|---|---|---|
| Westville Girls’ High School | 80.34 | 100% |
| Spar Plaza | 360.8 | 100% |
| ECHO Foundation – Munro Kirk | 145.2 | 100% |
| CPOA Kronendal Retirement Village | 165.4 | 100% |
| Watergate Apartments | 114.48 | 100% |
| Vondeling Wines Winery | 52.6 | 100% |
| Vondeling Wines Carport | 6.52 | 100% |
| Morgenster Shopping Centre | 140.8 | 100% |
| SPAR Lulekani | 368.08 | 93.27% |
| La Recolte Retirement Village | 57.24 | 100% |
| Knysna Primary School | 22.41 | 100% |
| Rondebosch Boys High School 2021 | 136.95 | 100% |
| Rob Ferreira High School | 140.85 | 100% |
| Kingsway High School | 58.32 | 100% |
| Avontuur Estate | 122.58 | 100% |
| Bo Karoo Farm | 108 | 100% |
| CPOA Avondrust Court | 187.92 | 53.61% |
| South Peninsula High School | 32.76 | 100% |
| Groot Constantia Estate | 164.59 | 100% |
| Plumstead High School | 55.08 | 100% |
| Somerset West Primary School | 21.84 | 100% |
| CPOA Berghof Retirement Village | 69.12 | 100% |
| Tamboerskloof Primary School | 32.7 | 100% |
| Karoo Fresh | 332.1 | 100% |
Carbon credit vintages issued
For the 27 project sites a total figure of 5 806 tCO₂e available for sale. The Karoo Fresh project used an emissions factor of 0.8 in keeping with recommendations in the methodology.
Baseline emissions in year y = Net energy displaced by the PV in year y X Grid Emission Factor in year y
2020 2021 2022 Total
PV generated energy per year (kWh/year) 95 755 2 095 359 3 248 373 5 439 487
Grid Emission Factor (kg CO2e/kWh) 1.07 1.07 1.07
0.8 for Karoo Fresh1.07
Avoided CO2 emissions (tCO2/yr) 102 2 242 3 462 5 806
Total Credits Sold: 1 164