High Tech Solar

Pay-As-You-Go Solar Power?

As most of the world looks for newer, greener technologies to create electricity, more than one billion people around the world are still unable to get reliable access to electricity, green or not. Eight19, a company in Cambrigde, U.K., hopes to change that with IndiGo, its pay-as-you-go solar power system. The cost-effective solar system does not rely on fossil fuels or the lengthy construction of wind farms or hydroelectric dams. This is good because many of those without power – especially in sub-Saharan Africa, do not live near enough to the infrastructure that would connect them to new sources of green energy.

The initial system has a 3-watt solar panel and battery. It simply involves an organic solar cell printed onto a plastic sheet, which harnesses electricity for lighting, cooking, and other things many of us take for granted. Users can buy $10 worth of power via a scratch card and a code is sent to the customers through their mobile phones. Since the program’s inception in 2011, the system is working in Kenya, Malawi, Zambia, and South Sudan.

IndiGo is also saving consumers money, and since it will eliminate kerosene-usage, it benefits their health. Financially, instead of spending roughly $2 a week to charge mobile phones via energy supplied through kerosene they are spending half that much. If three watts becomes too little there are upgrades available through the “IndiGo Energy Escalator” allowing customers up to 80 watts of energy to power TVs and sewing machines.

There is no word on how customers without reliable access to electricity, nor the funds to pay for it, are able to pay for cellular service. You would think they would have taken into consideration.

Read More at Earthtechling.