Africa now has 9% of the world’s GSM subscriptions, with over 340 million subscribers according to the GSM Association, and has been the world’s fastest growing mobile market for the last four years. Similarly inpressive growth rates have been seen in other emerging markets.
One of the major barriers to acquiring new users in these markets is the lack of access to reliable and affordabe power; according to the World Bank 1.6 billion people worldwide live without access to reliable electricity. In many emerging markets electricity supply is not only unreliable but also very expensive, with consumers spending between 15 and 20 percent of their income on it.
While electricity is scarce and costly in emerging markets sunshine is generally both abundant and inexpensive. When measured in peak sun hours, defined as kWh/m2/ day, Africa and the Middle-East enjoy more than six peak sun hours per day, whereas large parts of Asia and Latin America have more than four sun peak hours per day.
Clearly, under these circumstances, there exists and major opportunity to meet the needs of these potential users by developing solar-powered handsets that are both efficient and reliable.
Our proprietary technology enables the development of highly efficient and reliable solar powered handsets, chargers and battery packs.
We have an established track record of developing low-cost solar-powered handsets with highly reputable partners. The solar cell is fully integrated in the handset and allows for autonomous operation in emerging markets.
Our data shows that for a typical user in an emerging market, taking on to account average talk time and texts sent, their handset can be recharged by placing it in the sun for less than two hours.
The benefit for the user in emerging markets will be access to a reliable and affordable source of power, putting freedom of communication at their fingertips, while network operators will benefit from increased market penetration and average revenue per user.
At the same time as people in developed markets become more and more mobile, their need to charge a growing number of portable devices on the go is increasing, and solar power will give them the freedom to do so.
And let's not forget the environment: a significant share of the carbon footprint of mobile phones comes from powering the devices using inefficient wall chargers. Solar-powering reduces the consumption of conventionally produced electricity, sparing precious resources and reducing harmful emissions.
Global Telecoms Business magazine Innovation award (June 16 2009)
GSMA EMEA Tournament Winner (February 2009)
