The most innovative and legitimate altcoin out there is SolarCoin (SLR). Solar energy producers receive grants of 1 SLR per documented Megawatt-hour of electricity produced. So the currency is backed by something of real economic value and it is intended to help the environment.
The founders of SolarCoin include highly experienced investment bankers: for example,
Joseph Zitoli,
John Dolan,
Nick Gogerty, and
Charles Moore. The team also includes scientists, professors, economists, entrepreneurs, etc. This page has links to the CVs of all team members:
http://wiki.solarcoin.org/index.php?title=SolarCoin_VolunteersThe official website,
SolarCoin.org, includes lots of information including a detailed FAQ.
SolarCoin launched in January and trades on three small exchanges so far. Most of the trading volume is at
AllCrypt.com.
They also say "Off-grid facilities are currently not eligible for pilot SLR grants"
So whats the point? There could be a lot of semi off grids as most people
start with Grid-Ties and most of that could also be considered "Off-grid"
as they are also using that power.
Like me I got 8KWh of solar and the backup 100kwh and hardly sell any power
as it's not going to work out as the line owner can charge a line charge also,
making the net a big fat zero.
But if you could trade the coin it could work out for me a little better.