The technological foundation of the Solar blockchain focuses on ensuring high performance, resilience, flexibility, and decentralization. This is achieved through the use of a specialized consensus mechanism, innovative protocols for asset creation, and recent integration with the Ethereum virtual machine.
1. Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) Consensus
As already mentioned, Solar uses Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS). This is a key distinction from traditional Proof-of-Work (PoW) or simpler Proof-of-Stake (PoS) systems.
How DPoS Works: In DPoS, SXP token holders vote for 53 "Block Producers" (also called Delegates or Block Makers). Only these 53 Delegates have the right to create new blocks and confirm transactions. They are elected based on the amount of SXP that has been voted for them (delegated).
Benefits of DPoS for Solar:
Speed: Blocks are created quickly, approximately every 8 seconds, ensuring high transaction speeds and low latency.
Scalability: The DPoS system is more scalable than PoW, as fewer nodes (53 Delegates) are required to achieve consensus.
Energy Efficiency: Significantly reduces energy consumption compared to PoW mining.
Decentralization and Governance: Although the number of Delegates is fixed, the voting system provides decentralized control and allows the community to choose who will manage the network.
2. Side Ledger Protocol (SLP)
Side Ledger Protocol (SLP) is Solar's proprietary solution for creating and managing digital assets on their blockchain.
Easy Token and NFT Creation: SLP allows users and developers to easily issue their own fungible tokens (like ERC-20, but on Solar) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) without the need for a deep understanding of smart contract coding. This significantly lowers the barrier to entry for creating assets in Web3.
Customizable Assets: SLP supports the creation of tokens with metadata and specialized mechanics, opening opportunities for advanced use cases in the corporate sector, gaming space, and other industries.
Burn Mechanism: Fees for creating (genesis) tokens and NFTs through SLP are paid in SXP and burned, contributing to the deflationary nature of the SXP token.
3. EVM Compatibility (Ethereum Virtual Machine) and SolContract
The recent implementation of EVM compatibility is a significant step for Solar:
Portability of dApps: EVM compatibility means that decentralized applications developed for Ethereum (using Solidity) can be easily ported and run on the Solar blockchain. This significantly expands the Solar ecosystem, attracting developers already familiar with Ethereum tooling.
Functionality of Smart Contracts: EVM compatibility allows Solar to support complex smart contracts, opening doors for DeFi, GameFi, and other complex dApps.
SolContract: Solar also implements the SolContract feature, which allows for the creation and deployment of Solidity smart contracts directly on the SXP blockchain. This provides developers with a familiar environment for building decentralized applications.
4. Modular Architecture and Development of Solar Core
Solar Core is designed with modularity and extensibility in mind, allowing for future upgrades and integrations:
Adaptability: The modular design allows Solar to adapt to the changing needs of the market and integrate new technologies as they emerge.
Security Improvements: The security of the network is continuously enhanced through a combination of DPoS, multi-signature wallets, smart contracts, and decentralized architecture.
With these technological solutions, Solar aims to create an efficient, secure, and scalable blockchain that can become a key platform for the mass adoption of decentralized payments and applications.
