A professor in Brazil is helping to bring solar powered wireless internet to communities in need. The low-cost “access point in a box” he has created needs no internet connection, electricity, or assembly to function. It is being tested on lamp posts in a number of locations. Innovations such as these are becoming more common around the world, and are leveling the economic playing field and creating countless benefits for people who could otherwise not pay for the internet.
For many of us, the internet has become as basic of a utility as electricity and running water. With globalization transforming the economies of nations around the world, the internet can play a significant role in helping people to find jobs, make connections, learn, have fun, and improve their lives. Now thanks to numerous innovations, wireless internet is becoming cheaper and more accessible for everyone in countries like Brazil.
The BBC reports that Professor Marcelo Zuffo of the the University of Sao Paulo is an innovator who has developed a solar-powered access point that needs no further assembly when bought– only a good place to grab some sun. Zuffo explained to the BBC that:
We came up with the idea of taking energy that is most plentiful and cheap, ie the sun, and try and transform this in bits. We have a solar panel, a cheap motorcycle battery and a circuit that is responsible for energy management. We can have up to two days of full internet coverage and our goal is to increase that to 10 days – so that in the rainy season and the winter – you can have the internet for free. The natural plan is to miniaturise the system so that we can save on costs. So by the end you can imagine these wi-fi solar mesh devices being the size of a cellphone or playing card.
Sounds great, right? Zuffo said that one of the primary motivations to start his project in Brazil was to help a school with no electrical outlets to have internet access. Zuffo isn’t the only person, however, to have had this terrific idea.
- The Christian Science Monitor reported over two years ago about a similar idea and invention that was acted upon and designed by the Green Wifi Project for use in Rwanda.
- You can also read a story about the world’s first solar powered wireless internet rickshaw, known as the iTrike.
- A contest sponsored by an organization in India recently asked for inventors to develop a solar-powered wireless internet device. It will be an important component in helping to train the children of sex workers and the victims of the sex trafficking industry for technological jobs. In this way it is hoped that they can escape from such terrible circumstances (a software engineer from Texas won the contest if you are curious).
- Another older story describes a unique system involving motorcycles and solar-powered computers that has allowed doctors in Boston to consult with patients in a remote area of Cambodia via the internet.
I can’t wait to read more of these stories about how solar power and other clean energy innovations are improving the lives of people around the world. What about you?
Photo Credit: edkohler on Flickr under a Creative Commons license
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