In undeveloped countries, cell phones can be crucial. When there is little infrastructure, they are an important way of communicating and also offer opportunities for economic growth. But they’re not terribly useful when their batteries are dead – and electricity can be hard to find in rural regions.
The BuffaloGrid Project designed and built portable generators that can be transported around via bicycle. The generators collect energy from the sun, but here’s the innovative part – they are activated via inexpensive text messages. A user simply texts the cell phone charging station, which lights up when it is ready to deliver a charge. The generators have ten charging tips that can each charge 30-50 phones on a single solar charge.
Not only does this project deliver cell phone charging to people in areas where electricity is tough to come by, but it allows individuals to set up and run their own small businesses – the cell phone chargers can be mobilized on bicycles, placed in local areas, or set up in local shops and restaurants.
Using solar cell phone charging stations for small businesses
As technology has advances, several people have become highly dependent on a large number of electronic devices for communication, both personally and socially, especially through cell phones. Keeping the devices charged up is one of the biggest problems of all time. It is very rare for smartphones to make it throughout the day without being recharged. Finding access to the electric outlet can sometimes be difficult, especially in the areas where there is no scope for power lines. Using the solar cell charging stations is one solution, but unfortunately, they are not accessible to a large number of people in the public.
There are hardly any charging facilities available in the public and people tend to leave the charging stations unattended and prefer some other way of charging their mobile phones. With the help of sun charge systems, this problem can be solved to some extent, and the demands of the people can be met easily.
The Solar Cell Phone Charging Stations are highly convenient and make use of clean energy. The stations are responsible for converting solar energy to electricity, especially in the areas where such advanced facilities are not available easily. Making such facilities available in public places such as corporate parks, universities, and city parks would encourage people to make use of such technology and garner tremendous benefits from them. The charging takes just a few minutes where you can easily plug in your device, charge it up, and stay connected with it for a while to ensure that your device remains attended by you for a while at least.
One of the main reasons for choosing the solar energy is that it is a free and clean source to get electricity. The generators are portable which means that they can be adjusted according to the position of the sun and taken anywhere as per the convenience. Also, these have the capacity to charge at least thirsty to fifty cell phones enabling the people to get the benefits directly.
Reasons for Using the Solar Energy Enabled Devices
Solar energy has a lot of benefits, and some of them are listed as follows:
It is a free source of energy
The sun can provide a lot of energy – more than what you can use in a day, and there is no replacement for such energy. The solar power system saves a lot of your money the moment you turn it on. It has long-term advantages that you will realize only when you start using it. Not only will it benefit you in public places, but it will also prove beneficial for the environment. Apart from providing electricity, the solar energy systems can also be used for heating purposes. You can extract the heat from the sunlight to use in the solar thermal system, which can easily convert the sunlight to be used for heating solutions.
It improves grid security
By switching to solar power, you are less likely to experience brownouts or blackouts. The solar cell phone charging stations installed in your houses or even public places can act as small power plants. This would essentially help in generating electricity through grid security which would be useful, especially when you are facing natural or human-made disasters.
There will be less electricity loss
Electricity is transported to the consumers through extensive networks from big power plants. Transferring it to long distances results in power loss. The solar power panels can prove to be helpful in capturing the natural source of energy and converting it into electricity which can be used in homes and other public places. The energy would automatically become domestic, and you will be in control of the bills and energy usage. Also, the solar power systems are extremely durable, and there are fewer chances of any interruption. This means that power loss would be reduced and you will be benefitted from the solar energy to a great extent.
Solar power is good for the environment
This clean and green source of energy is certainly an excellent way to reduce the carbon footprint. Moreover, there is no pollution caused due to it which means that it is the need of the hours for everyone on this planet right now. Also, solar power does not release any greenhouse gases, and except for using the clean water, it does not require at any resources for its functioning. Overall, it is safe, environment-friendly, and suitable for the people.
What makes solar powered cell phone chargers suitable for use?
The solar battery charger is mainly used to avoid the power source for charging. These are easy to use, and you do not need to pay a lot of attention while using the. The charger comes with solar panels attached to the phone, which happen to collect power from the sun and convert them into electricity. The solar battery charger can be used to store energy, which can be used later on when the climate is cloudy or wet. During this time, you will just need to connect the charger to the phone and do not need to take it out in the sun for charging it up. It is easy to store the solar energy during the day and use it during the night for charging the phone.
The phone charge is easy to use, and you can easily store it as well. The charger comes with an AC outlet which can be used to charge the battery of your cell phone. It is also possible to charge devices such as tablets, laptops, and other electronic devices with the help of these charging points. Whenever there is light available in your region, you can place the charge at a safe place so that it remains exposed to maximum sunlight. You can also choose a charger as per your requirement. The amount of power that will be generated in the device is determined using the number of solar panels that are available in the device. The specification of the charger also depends on the number of devices that you want to charge.
The solar charger is a portable device, and it is easy to carry anywhere, which means that you will not face issues when there are hardly any options available for you to charge your phones. One of the major benefits of using this kind of charger is that you do not need an external power source to charge your device. Moreover, you can easily handle it outdoor and take it with you without any qualms. Make sure that you keep the device safely with you and protect it from any pressure or damage as solar panels are highly sensitive to handle and you will need to be slightly careful when you are using the device.
How does solar charging work?
There are multiple steps involved in converting solar energy into electricity and here is a brief explanation of how it all works.
Photons present in the sunlight contain the energy to push electrons from their orbit in certain elements such as silicon which is why it is most preferred in solar cells. This ability to disentangle electrons is known as the photoelectric effect.
In the initial steps, it is necessary to create an imbalance in the negatively charged and positively charged particles that are present in silicon which can only be achieved with the addition of boron and phosphorus. This imbalance creates an electric field in the silicon, causing it to push the electrons towards the front side of the solar cell and created a negatively charged side. The protons tend to create a positive charge on the other side of the surface of the cell.
When the two sides of the cells are connected using an indirect correct, the electrons tend to flow into the load and start creating electricity.
Although the solar battery chargers do not charge the battery of your cell phone directly, they tend to charge the internal battery efficiently. This is then charged with the help of solar modules, and the charge is then redistributed to the gadget so that no external electrical source is required for the purpose.
When it comes to the effectiveness of the solar battery charges, they tend to allow the gadgets to recharge the battery without any external use of electricity source. They are several other benefits associated with it as well. For instance, solar cells do not cause any emission, waste, or release byproducts.
Although these are efficient in a lot of cases, these tend to have limitations associated with them as well. First of all, the power of the battery charger cannot be compared with the regular battery charger. These are not that powerful, and it takes some time to charge the batteries.
On a second note, the solar charger tends to give minimal current so they cannot be used to charge a dead battery. You need to be careful if you want to rely on this battery charger completely. For smaller devices, these are certainly efficient, but for the larger ones they can cause an issue. At times, you might even need to feed the charger with twelve hours of sunlight in order to make it working for charging the phones. When it comes to phone chargers, these are flat and small units which can be carried easily. Overall, the benefits of using the solar cell phone charging stations for your phones would certainly prove beneficial.
The solar chargers are worth your investment as they are economical, will work for a long duration of time and serve the purpose efficiently. The only thing that you need to take care about these to avoid exposing them to free flowing water or using sharp objects to operate them. Solar chargers are surely the future!
Source: Design News
