A Digital Twin is the digital ownership record for one physical solar panel. It contains that panel's serial number, its location, its technical specifications, its production history, and the name of its current legal owner. When you own a Digital Twin on SolarWise, you own the physical panel it represents.

The problem this solves

Owning a solar panel usually means a rooftop, a contractor, and a long installation process. Most people never get the option, either they do not own a roof suited to solar, or the upfront cost and hassle rule it out entirely.

SolarWise separates panel ownership from panel location. You can own a specific, physical panel inside a real, producing solar farm without installing anything yourself. The farm operator builds and maintains the farm. You own the panel and receive the proceeds tied to it.

What a Digital Twin actually contains

Each Digital Twin is linked to one physical panel and holds:

• A unique serial number matching the physical unit
• The farm and location where the panel is installed
• Technical specifications for that panel
• A production history showing how much electricity it has generated
• A record of the current legal owner

This record is stored on a secure, tamper-proof, publicly verifiable digital ledger, so ownership can always be independently confirmed.

One panel, one owner, no pooling

A Digital Twin always represents exactly one physical solar panel. There is no fractionalisation and no pooling of multiple panels into a single unit. If you own a Digital Twin, you own that specific panel under Swiss law, in full.

Ownership stays with you

SolarWise is non-custodial by design. Your Digital Twin lives in your own wallet, linked to your profile. SolarWise does not hold panels, Digital Twins, or proceeds on behalf of users at any point. You control the wallet, and the wallet controls the record of ownership.

What happens once you own a panel

Once you own a panel, the electricity it generates is sold to local customers and energy cooperatives. The proceeds from that sale are calculated per panel and distributed to the owner's wallet on a monthly basis. You can read exactly how that calculation works in our guide to how monthly proceeds are calculated .

A note on what a Digital Twin is not

Digital Twins represent ownership of a physical solar panel. They are not financial securities and do not entitle the holder to any guaranteed return. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

Ready to see which farms have panels available? Browse SolarWise Farms .

SolarWise operates under Swiss law, as a registered Swiss stock corporation, with a FINMA No-Action Letter and membership in ARIF, a Swiss self-regulatory organisation providing anti-money-laundering supervision. Here is what each of those actually means.

Who SolarWise is, legally

SolarWise is incorporated in Switzerland as The SolarWise Own The Sun AG, a Swiss Aktiengesellschaft (stock corporation). Digital Twins represent ownership of a physical solar panel. They are not financial securities and do not entitle the holder to any guaranteed return.

What a FINMA No-Action Letter is, and is not

FINMA is the Swiss financial market regulator. A No-Action Letter is FINMA's formal statement that current activities do not require a financial intermediary licence under Swiss law. It is worth being precise about what this is not:

• It is not a licence
• It is not an endorsement of SolarWise by FINMA

It is a specific regulatory determination about a specific business model at a specific point in time.

ARIF membership

SolarWise is a member of ARIF (Association Romande des Intermédiaires Financiers), a Swiss self-regulatory organisation recognised by FINMA. ARIF membership brings anti-money-laundering supervision and an annual audit cycle, an outside body reviewing SolarWise's compliance practices on a recurring basis.

Identity verification, in practice

SolarWise applies identity verification based on activity level. Verification is triggered once a user's activity, purchases or proceeds received, crosses CHF 1,000 within a rolling 30-day window. Below that threshold, a lighter-touch verification applies, an account and a country declaration. Above it, full identity verification is required. This applies equally to purchases and to proceeds received.

Why this structure matters

Owning a Digital Twin means owning a specific physical solar panel under Swiss law, verified and recorded, with the underlying farm operator handling construction, maintenance, and electricity sales. The regulatory structure exists to keep that ownership legitimate, verifiable, and compliant, not to make any promise about future proceeds. No fixed, minimum, or projected level of proceeds is promised or represented, and past performance is not indicative of future results.

Have more questions about how ownership works day to day? Visit our FAQ page.

Non-custodial means SolarWise never holds your Digital Twin or your proceeds at any point. Both live in a wallet that you control, not in an account that SolarWise manages on your behalf.

The difference this makes

With a custodial setup, a platform holds an asset for you and you rely on that platform to release it correctly. With a non-custodial setup, the asset sits directly in your own wallet. SolarWise has no ability to move, freeze, or hold your Digital Twin or your proceeds, because it never has possession of them in the first place.

How it works on SolarWise

When you become the owner of a panel, the Digital Twin is linked directly to your wallet. When proceeds are calculated each month, they are sent to that same wallet. SolarWise's role is to run the platform, verify identity, calculate proceeds correctly, and maintain the marketplace, not to hold assets.

This is also why the wallet linked to your profile matters so much. It is the only place your ownership record and your proceeds exist.

What this means for you in practice

• You control access. Your wallet is protected by your own credentials, not a SolarWise login alone.
• Keep your wallet recovery details safe. Since SolarWise cannot access or recover your wallet for you, losing your recovery details means losing access to your Digital Twin and proceeds. Store them somewhere secure and offline.
• Ownership is independently verifiable. Anyone can confirm that a given Digital Twin belongs to a given wallet, without needing to trust SolarWise's internal records.

Why we built it this way

A platform that holds funds or assets on behalf of users typically takes on a different, heavier set of regulatory obligations. By staying non-custodial, SolarWise avoids acting as a custodian of client assets, which keeps the platform structurally simpler and keeps control of your panel and your proceeds where it belongs: with you.

Digital Twins represent ownership of a physical solar panel. They are not financial securities and do not entitle the holder to any guaranteed return.

Want to understand what your Digital Twin actually contains? Read What Is a Digital Twin? .

Monthly proceeds for SolarWise panel owners are calculated in seven steps: the farm sells electricity, operating costs are deducted, the remaining net revenue is split between owners and SolarWise, converted to the owner's currency, and paid out per panel based on actual production. Here is what each step involves.

Step 1: The farm sells electricity

Each solar farm sells the electricity it produces to local customers and energy cooperatives, at local market rates, in local currency.

Step 2: Operating costs are deducted

Before anything is distributed, the farm pays for the costs of running it:

• Insurance for the farm and equipment
• Land lease payments
• Day to day operations and maintenance
• Local taxes and regulatory fees
• Equipment replacement reserves

Step 3: Net revenue is calculated

What remains after operating costs is the net revenue, this is the amount that gets shared between SolarWise and panel owners.

Step 4: The split is applied

Net revenue is split 70% to panel owners and 30% to SolarWise. SolarWise's share covers platform operations, technology, and compliance. Because the split happens on net revenue rather than gross revenue, owners are not covering the farm's operating costs out of their share.

Step 5: Currency conversion

Local currency is converted at the prevailing exchange rate at the time of distribution, and shown to owners in USD. Because this conversion happens at the time of payment, the exact USD value can vary slightly month to month.

Step 6: Per-panel allocation

Each owner's proceeds are calculated based on their specific panel's actual production for that period, not an average across the farm.

Step 7: Payment to your wallet

Proceeds are transferred directly to the wallet linked to your profile. SolarWise does not hold or custody proceeds at any point during this process.

Why proceeds vary month to month

Proceeds are not fixed. They move with actual electricity production, local energy rates, and operating costs in that period. A month with more sunlight and lower maintenance costs will look different from a month with less production or an unplanned repair.

No fixed, minimum, or projected level of proceeds is promised or represented. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

Want to see exactly where the split comes from? Read Understanding the 70/30 Split .