Limited access for small-scale investors to renewable energy assets impedes the expansion of these crucial facilities, stunting sustainable energy progression.
KWARXS in cooperation with MLabs
This is the total amount allocated to KWARXS - "Fracturizing: Revolutionize, Evolve".
We are launching a platform enabling anyone to invest ADA into solar farms (green energy projects, shareholding via NFTs), earning a share of annual profits proportional to their investment size.
No dependencies.
To safeguard the operational success of the platform and preempt potential risks from unfair or abusive practices, we have opted to maintain proprietary rights over our repositories during the initial years of operation. This is a prudent measure to ensure the stability and security of the platform in its early stages.
As our platform becomes well-established and recognized, we are committed to transitioning towards an open-source model. This future decision to open source our code aligns with our core belief in transparency and collective participation, key principles that will guide our platform's evolution in the long term.
SDG Goals
SDG Subgoals
Key Performance Indicator (KPI)
Kwarxs bridges blockchain and real-life projects by providing a crowdfunding vehicle that enables fractional ownership of solar energy plants profits (the same technology could be extended to other projects), to later distribute part of the annual profits among investors. Both the investment and the profit sharing is done through transactions on the Cardano blockchain using ADA as a currency, and the proof of investment used to claim the investor's share of the profit is done via Cardano native Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs).
The primary objective of this project is to amass an extensive portfolio of green and renewable energy resources. This portfolio will include solar power plants, bio-diesel refineries, and tree farms renowned for their high CO2 absorption capabilities, among others. Our aim is to offer practical and robust solutions to offset carbon emissions, thereby significantly reducing our collective carbon footprint.
Kwarxs has committed to establishing itself as the most significant utility project on the Cardano platform. Our strategy is designed to yield a sustainable, long-term passive income for all members of the Kwarxs community. We aim to achieve this through the continual development and refinement of our proprietary system and smart contracts.
Our goal is to enhance their usability for a growing user base, thereby driving the project's impact and reach. In the future, we envision the Kwarxs-DAO project to become entirely autonomous. It will be self-organizing via the DAO and contribute to ongoing decentralization efforts.
This vision underscores our commitment to forging new paths in green energy solutions, utilizing the power of blockchain technology, and supporting our community through reliable passive income opportunities. We believe these efforts will position Kwarxs at the forefront of sustainable innovation, driving forward both environmental responsibility and financial independence for our users.
The built protocol allows to do the following actions:
1 - Investment and NFT minting
In order to buy an NFT, a user first has to clear KYC with Blockpass. Once this is done, by clicking the "Buy" button in the website the following sequence is triggered:
2 - Profit sharing
After converting the profit generated by the solar plant to ADA (or any other Cardano native token), the administrator deposits it into the profit sharing validator, an escrow script that locks them under the profit distribution rules.
A separate deposit is required for each collection of NFTs supported (at launch, there would be four collections supported for different sizes of investment), and the information about how much value (e.g how many Lovelaces) can be withdrawn by each NFT holder is attached as part of the deposit transaction.
3 - Profit distribution
Owners of the NFTs can use them to claim their share of the profit previously deposited by the administrator and locked in the profit sharing validator. There is no need to stake the NFTs to do so. To prevent fraud, every time profit is claimed, the NFT is atomically burnt and re-minted, updating a counter included as part of the token name.
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The following demos show the user-facing functionality of Kwarxs already deployed on testnet and accessible via the website at https://kwarxs.io:
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Kwarxs NFTs are grouped in 4 categories representing different rarities and APY%. All NFTs come with a nice piece of art, 100% handmade and unique.
The first collection, "Sun Gowds", is based on the sun god Helios in relation to our solar farms. This is a sample of the art attached to the NFTs:
Kwarxs is committed to pioneering the concept of fractionalized ownership and governance within the sustainable energy sector. This revolutionary approach will empower investors to share the profits generated by solar power plants, thereby promoting active participation in the green revolution. It also fosters an environment for the investment community to directly contribute towards the establishment of new solar power facilities.
Our strategic objectives align with the broader aim to augment the proportion of energy derived from renewable sources. This initiative is not only central to Kwarxs' operational framework but is also crucial to the attainment of international climate goals. Such objectives are highlighted in the 2030 agenda and are aimed at a significant reduction in the world's carbon footprint.
With the long-term vision of reaching zero-emissions by the year 2050, Kwarxs is committed to playing an integral role in catalyzing the transition to cleaner, sustainable energy solutions. Through our innovative approach, we aim to make a tangible impact in the fight against climate change, while providing our investors with profitable, socially responsible investment opportunities.
The primary measure of this project's success is gauged by the installed capacity of solar energy, expressed in Megawatts, made possible by investments channeled through the Cardano blockchain.
A secondary, yet equally significant, success indicator is the quantity of individual investors, particularly from the smaller investor demographic, who partake in this investment opportunity. The emphasis here is on the ability of these investors to acquire fractional ownership of the solar farms, thereby democratizing access to renewable energy investments. These metrics, combined, serve to reflect our commitment to promoting sustainable energy and broad-based investor participation.
We are optimistic about deploying Kwarxs on the Cardano mainnet within four months of securing the necessary funding. Significant progress has already been made towards this goal, with a prototype live on testnet and a targeted mainnet launch currently slated for Q2 2024.
Upon the successful launch of the project, our platform will be primed for investors to mint their NFTs. These NFTs will symbolize their entitlement to a fraction of the profits yielded by the power plants.
It's noteworthy that our operations are already underway with solar farms in Germany. Therefore, we can assure investors of profits, even in the first year of operation, calculated from the conclusion of the initial investment round. This assurance underlines our commitment to providing a secure and fruitful investment platform to our investors right from inception.
Progress, demos and promotional videos can be found in our YouTube channel.
The Kwarxs team has been in the business of solar power for almost two decades, executing over 5.5GW (a total of 0,43% of all installed Solar Power Worldwide) of solar projects globally, encompassing various types such as rooftop installations, open land systems, tracked systems, carports, landfill projects, and even floating solar installations on water. Recently, the first solar project under the Kwarxs project was constructed and is already operating in Ribnitz, Germany, with the following specifications:
KWARXS Solar Power Plant (Germany, own inventory)
This rooftop Solar Power Plant is located in East-Germany (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) close to Rostock and was built 2009. Since then the plant already produced 1,1 million kilowatt hours of electricity, bringing a net profit €420,000 over 14 years.
On the software side of things, the Kwarxs team has a strategic partnership with MLabs, with whom we have been closely collaborating for the past one and a half year. Thanks to this productive alliance, we have built the User Interface and we have already deployed our project on the testnet.
The funds obtained in this Catalyst round will be crucial in propelling our project into its final phase. These resources will enable us to transition the project seamlessly from the testnet phase to mainnet, as well as adding some further functionality. This signifies a key milestone in our journey, bringing us a step closer to realising our vision for a greener, more sustainable future.
Milestone: Update on-chain dependencies and increase test coverage.
Description: As development of the project started in April 2022, the current on-chain scripts use an old version of Plutarch and work with Plutus V1. In this first milestone, we plan to upgrade dependencies to support Plutus V2 (which among other things will allow us to use reference scripts and make transactions cheaper) and therefore work with a more recent version of Plutarch, making auditing and maintenance of the scripts easier. Test coverage will also be increased, expanding the test suite to include features that were left out such as bulk claiming of rewards.
Outputs:
Acceptance criteria:
Milestone: Refactor the transaction builder and update it to support the Conway era.
Description: The current implementation of the code to build transactions has three components: the backend transaction builder, a minting signature bot and the frontend adapter for partial transactions. These components make use of the deprecated library Bot Plutus Interface. The main purpose of this milestone is to update the code so Conway era transactions are supported. Since this will require a fairly big amount of work (updating dependencies alone would be a challenging task), we will take the opportunity to simplify the design by unifying the code for building transactions and will also move away from unmaintained libraries. Our first option is to use Atlas, as we believe will provide the easiest migration path given the state of our current implementation.
Outputs:
Acceptance criteria:
Milestone: Enhance frontend.
Description: The current implementation of the frontend will be enhanced with new functionality such as support for bulk claiming of rewards and increased display of information related to the user NFTs and Kwarxs operations.
Outputs:
Acceptance criteria:
Milestone: Audit the on-chain scripts.
Description: In this milestone, the implementation of the smart contracts will be audited by an external, independent auditor.
Outputs:
Acceptance criteria:
Milestone: Deploy to mainnet.
Description: The final milestone consists of the final preparations to our database and server towards launching Kwarxs on the Cardano mainnet. Upon successful completion of this milestone, Kwarxs will be live on mainnet.
Outputs:
Acceptance criteria:
Sandro - Founder of Kwarxs + CEO:
Role: Organize and monitor all activities in the area Smart Contract, NFT, web design, development of new tools, communication social media and support of the community, support of the website, back-office, communication interface to MLabs and other development, security and design teams.
Rene - Head of Construction & Solar Entrepreneur:
Role: planning new solar systems, implementation of solar power plants, communication with
financial institutions and all activities related to the construction of solar.
With their extensive industry experience, a dedicated team, and a proven track record of successful solar installations, this team member is a valuable asset to our project.
Their expertise contributes to our mission of revolutionizing renewable energy investments and paving the way for a greener future.
Together, Sandro & Rene combine years of experience in the solar industry, construction management skills, and a profound passion for the Cardano ecosystem. Their collective expertise strengthens our project's foundation, propelling us towards success in revolutionizing renewable energy investments and embracing the potential of NFTs on Cardano.
MLabs - Haskell, Smart Contract Dev Team:
As a valuable resource and technical support for the Kwarxs project, we proudly collaborate with MLabs, a leading Cardano development company. MLabs brings extensive expertise and innovation to the table, playing a pivotal role in our project's success.
MLabs' leadership in Cardano development is evident through their exceptional track record in delivering cutting-edge solutions. Their skilled team of developers, engineers, frontend designers and technologists possess a deep understanding of the Cardano ecosystem, enabling them to provide invaluable technical guidance and support to the Kwarxs project.
With MLabs' expertise, we leverage their technical prowess and comprehensive knowledge of Cardano's capabilities. Their contribution ensures the seamless integration of our project with the Cardano blockchain, optimizing performance and security.
MLabs' commitment to excellence aligns perfectly with our vision for the Kwarxs project.
Together, we forge ahead, utilizing their technical leadership and expertise to drive the project's success and revolutionize the renewable energy investment landscape.
Role: All relevant and necessary technical work on the Cardano blockchain, implementation and programming of new functions, writing of smart contracts, NFT minting, maintenance of the website, security of the network and all connected systems, front end design and backend coding is subcontracted to MLabs.
Milestone 1 - Update on-chain dependencies and increase test coverage: ₳63,000
Milestone 2 - Refactor the transaction builder and update it to support the Conway era: ₳89,000
Milestone 3 - Enhance frontend: ₳43,000
Milestone 4 - Audit the on-chain scripts: ₳54,000
Final milestone - Deploy to mainnet: ₳50,000
Note: promotion, community engagement and other work will be done by the founders as much as possible. No additional funding is requested for these activities.
In Partnership:
The value proposition of the project for the Cardano ecosystem primarily hinges on its potential to increase the network's utility and attract more participants to the ecosystem.
Here's how:
In essence, while the project involves costs, it's expected to generate long-term value for the Cardano ecosystem by increasing its utility, fostering user growth, and aligning with global sustainability trends.