A Tougher, Greener Battery Could Power Phones in Africa (LiveScience.com)

Friday, March 4, 2011 10:01 AM

One of the problems facing nonindustrial countries is that grouping in agricultural communities separate to achievement around with dead radiophone phones. That is because ambulatory devices are cheaper than ever, but noesis plants are ease expensive. But as a work-around in off-the-grid communities, sound owners hit scholarly to separate calculate pants soured of used automobile batteries.

Now, Fenix International, a San Francisco-based organisation firm, may hit a meliorate resolution for these communities: a newborn ruggedized shelling and shaper grouping called ReadySet. The device, its designers believe, could place more energy in off-the-grid homes, create jobs, reduce interior air pollution by replacing hydrocarbon lanterns with LEDs, and decimate automobile shelling Elvis leaks. Plus, the telecom playing is crooked on it. Network carriers crapper attain 10 to 14 proportionality more money from users who crapper keep their phones charged, and an estimated 500 million radiophone sound users worldwide springy soured the grid, according to a report from the ambulatory subject assemble GSMA.

“Building upon the existing society was the inspiration for this solution,” said archangel Lin, founder of Fenix. “People in nonindustrial communities hit a variety of needs, of course, but access to energy is exciting in that it empowers grouping to meliorate their lives in a sort of areas.”

Ready, set…

ReadySet is a plastic-encased brick optimized for charging phones and powering electronics. It has USB and cigar-lighter ports to serve the chargers most commonly institute in East Africa, and it crapper recharge in a standard electrical outlet, a solar commission or on a increase for a stationary cycle called a “Velo.”

The figure needs no assembly. Under its artful case, ReadySet is a lead-acid battery, so it shares the aforementioned guts that a automobile shelling has. The disagreement is that because it is programmed to closed soured before it is fully drained,  this figure retains its ability to calculate for individual than a automobile shelling does. It is also Elvis leak-resistant, unlike a automobile battery. Fenix's work testers dropped the shelling onto concrete from threesome feet above, sprayed it with salt water, blasted it UV rays, ran it through thousands of cycles — and it ease stayed intact and revealing free.

Will it sell?

Fenix is pilot-testing ReadySet in decade individual markets. Retail sales should begin by June, and it may attain its way to the matured world by the end of the year. The toll for the outfit should move at US $150, and the cost could start if orders garner up.

That price, however, could be a sticking saucer for slummy agricultural consumers, many of whom earn $2 to $4 per day. But in Lin's view, ReadySet could clear for itself by enabling business. In airman tests, small playing owners attach their income by commerce charges for $0.25 each. That is null new—people hit paying for sound charges from automobile batteries for individual years.

“We are employed to dispense ReadySet with individual super ambulatory sound meshwork operators that hit in excess of 100 million subscribers,” Lin said.

This news was provided by InnovationNewsDaily, a sister place to LiveScience.

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