The basic idea behind Solar Dividends is that the energy in sunlight can be converted to electricity and sold for cash. Since no one owns the sun, that cash can be shared among all people. While that sounds great, the trick is to develop a practical program that can make it work.

One approach that is not practical would be to distribute solar panels to everyone. Many homes don’t have direct access to the sun, and renters cannot install panels. Instead, the panels can be concentrated in community solar farms built in a sunny location to feed the electricity into the power grid. The money generated by the panels can be electronically transfered to the bank accounts of Solar Dividend recipients. A solar farm generally requires very little maintenance, so most of the money earned by the panels can be delivered as basic income.

The managers of the solar farm would need to allocate about 10 kilowatts of solar panels for each recipient. If the panels are 500 watts each, then each person would have 20 panels dedicated to generating their basic income. The farm would retain ownership of the panels, so the person would be free to move to another location without losing their income. When a person dies, the panels are not subject to inheritance, but would instead be assigned to the next recipient on the waiting list.