*3.6. Crowdfunding Model in Ireland*

A review into renewable energy project case studies [7] determined that for financing solar projects, lending, debenture and equity-based crowdfunding models are the most common while donation and reward-based crowdfunding have seldom been used [46]. The validity of the system dynamic model was tested [46] to confirm: the causal loop diagram contained all important factors; model was dimensionally consistent (unit check function of Vensim PLE software used to confirm measurement units of the variables) and was tested under extreme conditions (sensitivity check of important variables which provided logical behavior of the system) [46]. The testing confirmed the validity of the developed model for simulating solar crowd funding in Ireland.

The review conclusions showed that to be successful project creators and/or campaigners should convey credibility and as well as create project demand [53] by: setting the lowest possible funding amount (as investors/participants were attracted to campaigns with higher percentage funded rather than higher amount funded); decreasing profit margin associated with rewards to encourage more backers; providing tangible reward options rather than gimmicky products e.g., t-shirts stickers etc; and including a short video outlining project, the development timelines, business plans, usage of funds and the motivation and inspiration for the project [53]. It was found that Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, The Funding Circle, Seedrs, Crowdcube etc. which are focused on Lending/Equity based crowdfunding are more suitable for solar crowdfunding of the community-based projects.
