So first, let me make it clear I want to get paid for direct consulting, or for commercial GPL-exception license fees for code like
https://bitbucket.org/dahozer/catcoin, which is free for anyone to use if they give back to the community by making any source changes available. Exchanges or businesses that provide services based on AGPLv3 code need to either provide the code, or pay the developers commercial license exception fees.
The idea that 'energy is wasted' by mining is a tremendously dangerous idea for renewable energy. Proof-of-work mining powered by solar energy is the mostly likely disruptive change that has the ability to put fossil fuel and nuclear generation out of business permanently.
Leaving wallets open staking all the time is an energy-intensive and wasteful process that will only fuel more fuel-burning power generation.
A miner on my farm that only runs when the wind blows or the sun shines is going to be far more secure, and promote renewables more than a proof-of-stake system with lots of computers running 24x7 that can be compromised with software auto-update systems. You can't remotely exploit sha or scrypt ASIC silicon, while it's only a matter of buying an unreleased zero-day exploit for windows or MacOS to steal enough solarcoin to 51% stake-attack the network.
That being said, the plan you lay out for VC-funding and the 'proof of stake' investor bandwagon seems to have a strong chance of actually succeeding, so it seems the reality that developers need to be paid first makes that route more secure in the short term, because it's more likely people will get paid to make it happen.
Well that being said there are options for low power computing. A Netbook for example uses almost zero electricity. A pi is also very power efficient. If you consider the idea is to eventually convert a large portion of people to solar power by making it more cost effective to run solar with Solarcoin feed in tariffs, we well realize a net benefit of power consumption through grid means by simply making is less expensive to run solar. I think the equation will eventually tip to solar even with computers running multiple wallets. The average computer running this software will use no more than 100 watts, and probably much less using the methods I described.
I still have my heaps of SLRs on my external hardrive, I stored it there cause I know that this will be valuable in the future. =) 