Sourceful is aiming to transform how renewable energy is generated, managed, and monetised. Focusing on solar power, Sourceful leverages DePIN principles to create a decentralised energy network that benefits homeowners, businesses, and the grid itself. They do this through connecting individuals distributed energy resources (DERs) such as solar panels, whereby individuals can contribute their own solar panels to the energy market to enhance grid stability and optimise their energy efficiency.

Why is there a need for Sourceful?

There are a few notable issues with the grid:

1. Predictability of Power Sources – Conventional power plants offer predictable power output. Renewable energy sources, however, are less predictable due to their dependency on weather conditions.
2. Grid Stability with High Renewable Penetration – As the percentage of energy from renewable sources increases, grid operators face challenges in maintaining stability. The decentralised nature of renewable energy sources means that traditional utility companies have less control over power production, complicating the task of balancing the grid.
3. Balance Between Power Supply and Demand – Traditionally, the power grid has relied on centralised entities to maintain a balance between power generation and consumption. This balance is crucial to prevent blackouts, as any imbalance can lead to power outages.
4. Decentralisation of Power Production – The increasing installation of solar panels on residential rooftops decentralises power production. While this empowers individuals and reduces reliance on large power plants, it also challenges the traditional grid operators who are used to controlling large-scale, centralised power plants.
5. Need for Responsive Grid Management – To maintain grid stability in a system with high penetration of renewable energy, there is a growing need for systems that can quickly respond to changes in power supply and demand. This requires advanced grid management technologies and strategies, such as demand response and the use of virtual power plants.

1. Network Integration – Sourceful integrates solar panels and batteries into a decentralised network, facilitating energy sharing and storage. This approach maximises energy efficiency and reduces reliance on traditional power sources.
2. Incentive Mechanisms – Participants earn tokens for contributing energy to the network. These tokens can be traded or used for other services within the ecosystem, adding value and encouraging participation.
3. Grid Stability – Through Virtual Power Plants (VPPs), Sourceful aggregates distributed energy resources to offer demand response services. This helps balance supply and demand on the grid.
4. Data Insights – Sourceful aim to collect and analyse real-time data from connected devices, to provide critical insights into energy production and consumption patterns. This data will aid in optimising energy usage and support utility companies in grid management.
5. Access to a New Market – Sourceful allows solar panel owners to participate in the demand response market that was previously unavailable to them by aggregating multiple individual power supplies.

The Future of DePIN and Sourceful

As DePIN continues to gain traction, projects like Sourceful demonstrate the transformative potential of decentralised infrastructure. DePIN helps to break up monopolistic industries and promote innovation by spreading the cost of deploying networks at scale. You can no longer need billions of dollars to deploy mobile network infrastructure (e.g. Helium Mobile). By democratising access to and control over infrastructure, DePIN projects are poised to address some of the world’s pressing challenges.

Sourceful is on the verge of joining the Helium ecosystem as one of it’s sub-DAOs (sub-decentralised autonomous organisation). This is game changing as it would make Sourceful a part of the Helium network, connecting its renewable energy platform with Helium’s established infrastructure. This collaboration highlights the potential for DePIN projects to create synergies across industries, leading to more resilient and sustainable communities.

DePIN is an experimental sub-sector of the blockchain economy which tests new methods of building networks of hardware.

While Future Networks works with DePIN projects covering many industries, the core concept is the same:

• Experimenting with the utilisation of blockchain technology to set up and manage networks of hardware devices (physical infrastructure).
• Attempting to break up monopolies and drive innovation in key industries by taking a crowdsourced approached to network building, rather than a centralised approach
• Experimenting with utilising cryptocurrency as an incentive / coordination mechanism to build the network.