p/legends-solar-online-solar-investing
Earn cash when you generate and sell electricity.
Lassor
Legends Solar — Buy panels on operating commercial solar farms.
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Invest in panels on operating commerical solar farms. Collect cash earnings when you generate and sell electricity to the grid. ☀️ View your earnings, impact, and productivity with on-demand metrics with Rooftop, Legends' intuitive project monitoring system.
Replies
Ryan Hoover
We're seeing an explosion of alternative asset investing platforms but I haven't seen this for solar panels. Smart! My only concern: The site reports an estimated 7.3% return (I assume that's annual, although it doesn't clarify). How is that calculated and how confident are you in that return? The risk component matters a lot because if it's 7.3% with extremely low risk, it might be appealing but if it has any moderate amount of risk, I would put my money elsewhere because 7.3% isn't that much. Very curious to learn more, @lassor_feasley. :)
Lassor
@rrhoover Great question. We are working with a number of finance partners to identify solar facilities to sell onto Legends Solar. We are also deciding on the financial structure of the investment. We want it to be simple an intuitive, and most of all transparent - just like our brand and UI. Unlike Robinhood or other brokerage apps, we actually design everything from the UI and experience to the structure of the security itself. My background is in product design and I bring that ethic to everything we do. I think a lot of fintech products start with the flawed assumption that their users want to be like little mini hedge funds. We know better. A number of factors could effect the return, and the ROI might be slightly different for different projects. For example, a solar farm that sold to a utility grid would earn only a few cents per KwH generated. But a farm that sold power to a factory or hospital could charge significantly more. The rub is that the utility grid is much lower risk than the private commercial power customer. In the future, we might get into origination, meaning that Legends Solar investors would put up cash for new projects that have not yet been built. In that case, the investor will take on some construction risk but potentially experience a stronger return. 7.3% is a benchmark that I think is a reasonable target for our first offering, it is intended for context, and should not be mistaken for a promise. Once our first product is ready for launch, we'll include a detailed pro forma with information on risk profile and a more formal estimation of projected ROI.
Ryan Hoover
@lassor_feasley appreciate the detailed response! Once you get to that point, I think it would be helpful to provide more details on the model and success stories to give potential investors more confidence. I've looked at several alt investing opportunities and hesitate to participate for those exact reasons. It's hard to trust marketing copy. :)
Lassor
@rrhoover Totally... we are about half a year into building this, and earning trust and credibility is top of mind. We actually took a trip down to DC to interview one of our accredited solar panel investors last Thursday so that we could feature him on our blog.
Josh Anderson
How are the shares handled? Is it a regulated crowdfunding vehicle or something else? DAO?
Lassor
@nosrednahsoj We will most likely use Regulation A+, but few are considering a few other options. This will categorically NOT be a web3, crypto, DAO, or blockchain based product. Ever. Never ever.
Lassor
@nosrednahsoj In 1,000 eternities, it will not happen!
Josh Anderson
@lassor_feasley Doubling down!!!! I like it. I hope to call you out in eternity number 74 when you migrate to Microsoft's latest open-source Linux blockchain data solution licensed on OpenSea.io ...
Lassor
@nosrednahsoj Dude, getting load times for live data, and even secure account data, under a few seconds with AWS and Google services takes a village. What we really need is to stick it on the blockchain for no reason. But I'll withhold judgment for a few eternities for you!
Josh Anderson
@lassor_feasley lol. I'm only suggesting that by eternity 47, we might have blockchains fast enough!
Deogratius Odongo
Definately since we are going green due to Russias bad doings.
Lassor
@deogratius_odongo Such an important point. People are attracted for solar for all sorts of reasons. Some are worried about climate change, others love the investment traits. I think the geopolitical/security aspects of decentralized energy solutions like solar are certain to change the world order independent of climate - and it seems like probably in a good way.
Jack McBride
Is it possible to invest from the UK?
Lassor
@muccy It probably will be! It depends on a few technical details. We are currently selling tax advantaged panels to accredited investors - you'll have to have US income to take advantage of that, but it's possible. I don't see a reason why our non-tax advantaged 'retail' product would not be available internationally, but I will have to work with out attorneys to know for certain.
Eve Chin
@muccy @lassor_feasley Hope to hear more about allowing the international community to invest in this. This is great! Thanks.
Lassor
Legends Solar allows you to buy operating panels on commercial solar farms and earn cash as you generate and sell electricity. If you're like me, you would 1000% install residential solar panels on your home - but maybe you're a renter or you live in the city where it's not practical. On Legends, you can buy just one solar panel for a few hundred bucks, or a whole rooftop's worth. That means you'll own real solar panels, and the right to collect the cash they earn. As a designer, I make sure everything about Legends is simple and intuitive. On our project monitoring software, Legends Rooftop, you'll see your impact and earnings conceptualized through beautiful and intuitive metrics and data visualizations. Legends won't feel like owning an abstract financial security - it will feel like owning a consumer product, almost like you could put it in your pocket. Right now, we are beta testing Legends Solar with private investors who invest $100K+ each in solar panels. We work with leading solar finance organizations to vet, source, and service our investments. That's helping us work out the kinks with transactions, engineering, and design. In a few months, we will launch our 'retail' product - anyone will be able to buy solar panels and collect cash earnings. You can claim early access to our launch by visiting www.Legends.Solar and 'reserving panels' today.
sowmya iyer
This is great! The world should move towards greener/more concious investment solutions. This is a great step in that direction.
Lassor
@sowmya_iyer1 Thanks Sowmya - part of what inspired me to start taking this concept seriously is that more and more people are conscientious about the way they invest. They wanna know what is behind their savings and if the businesses they own through them are in accord with their values. No matter what your politics are, you'll always know exactly what you own on Legends Solar.
Adam Blumenthal
What a great concept. How can I buy some panels?
Lassor
@adam_blumenthal We plan to be up and running within a few quarters. You'll be able to buy a single panel, or a whole rooftop's worth!
Elias Vandeputte
As a huge solar fan (and working as a clean energy consultant) from Belgium, I'd love to invest in panels via the platform. So hopefully it will be internationally available! Keep up the good work!
Lassor
@elias_vandeputte For sure, Product Hunt has a fairly international audience, and the interest from abroad has opened our eyes to the possibility of going global sooner than we thought!