Distributed Solar Power to Enable the Poorest on the Planet

A recent article in The Guardian explains concisely why distributed Solar power is the answer to the immediate problems facing the poorest people on the planet. Not only does the author elegantly explain why it is imperative to empower the poor and the humane thing to do they make an excellent point on the viability of cellular providers to become distributed power providers too. After all it is in the interests of the Cellular providers to make sure their customers can actually use their phones so why not provide power solutions to ensure they can charge their phones and keep ticking up the minutes.

Cellular providers are uniquely placed to play this role in the coming years. They already deal with distributed grids and wireless base stations. They already handle micro payments and the customers are already setup to pay for their minutes in pre pay or post paid accounts. Essentially they already have the systems in place to make it easy and accessible for people to access solar power. The latest advances in mass produced portable solar technology with built in cellular enabled sim cards to pay for the energy that is consumed by the devices that connect are being tested as we speak in exactly the communities that need them most. It will be soon possible to purchase outright a portable charging device in the same way that one can purchase an unlocked phone. At that point the Cellular industry becomes the king maker for portable Solar energy technology.

We can expect to see Apple, Samsung, HTC, Motorola, Nokia, Microsoft and Google all getting in on this bandwagon in the coming year. If it has escaped their attention until now it won’t for much longer.