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Smart Green Cell Station Makes Africa a Cleaner Place To Ask "Can You Hear Me Now?"
Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 3:00 AM on April 6, 2008
In an effort to clean up Africa's dirty and diesel-reliant mobile network, Swedish start up Flexenclosure has designed a green version of a cellular base station. Called the E-site, it runs primarily on wind and solar power and utilises an intelligent operating system that adapts to local conditions.
The new design comes at the request of Ericsson, which wanted an alternative to a purely diesel-run base station. Those consume roughly 20,000 litres (5,283 gallons) of diesel per year - an increasingly costly expense with rising world energy prices.
The E-Site draws its power from a wind turbine in the network tower and solar panels on the roof. Clean energy sources charge a battery that then powers the base station at night. The E-site also has a small diesel generator, just in case the batteries run out.
What's even more amazing is the E-site's operating system, which can learn to adapt its power-generating techniques to different situations. For instance, if the batteries are running low at night, but the system knows the sun will rise soon, it can decide to wait it out until morning rather than head straight towards the diesel. Good thinking, E-site! [Cnet]
Tags: africa | ecofriendly | energy | ericsson | gadgets | green | mobile networks | mobile phones | phones | solar
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Mammoth
Posted 4:24 AM 6/4/08
So that's 0.0100513699 Gallons per minute.
Mammoth
fastmike
Posted 5:50 AM 6/4/08
So we can expect to see some cheap diesel generators on E Bay soon from Nigeria
fastmike
DestroyerMTL
Posted 6:41 AM 6/4/08
So this will be stolen within days of it being put up.
DestroyerMTL
Rob C
Posted 6:40 AM 6/4/08
funny thing is how we all want africa to not use their coal and oil resources and go green... yet we used ours for more than 2 centuries... why can't they have the same phase we did?
(and please... leave the anthropogenic global warming theory out of this mess.)
Rob C
cyborgtroy
Posted 6:22 AM 6/4/08
They got extra diesel generators by accident and want to send you some, you just pay for the shipping.
cyborgtroy
ChuckECheese
Posted 7:11 AM 6/4/08
@Rob C: It's because we want their coal and oil. That's why they can't have it.
ChuckECheese
desostros
Posted 6:59 AM 6/4/08
@DestroyerMTL: I agree.
I've had several friends heading to Africa to do charity work, and they just all end up coming home sooner.
People dont give a flying fuck, theyre primitive and want to stay that way.
If you give them a source of clean water, they'll just break it like all the rest you give them.
In the end they'll just go back to the river to get dirty drinking water.
Its pathertic.
desostros
Elaine Chow
Posted 11:24 AM 6/4/08
Haha, that's a strange way of looking at things, you guys. If we've already realized that a coal and oil fueled economy is unsustainable (and dangerous!) for the long term, why would it not make sense to employ other technologies that would work for Africa's energy needs? It's called technological leapfrog - you see it every day in other third world countries that didn't start with everything we had hundreds of years ago, but manage to get highways and subways and airports built that are more technologically advanced than the ones in the States.
And the people saying this stuff will be stolen - that's a pretty screwed up view of Africa you have. This invention is to replace current cellular base stations. It's for the people in Africa who already use phones. Hey! Some people in Africa HAVE PHONES! Crazy right? YOU MEAN THE ENTIRE CONTINENT ISN'T COMPLETELY POVERTY-RIDDEN AND WAR TORN?? WOAH!
Elaine Chow
neomajic
Posted 4:23 PM 6/4/08
Why is this just a good idea for Africa? Wouldn't it be a good idea everywhere?
neomajic
twreckx
Posted 9:58 PM 6/4/08
@desostros: I'm sorry that me and the entire continent of my "primitive" bretheren don't live up to your standards. Obviously no other continent has stealing for necessity or greed.
That oh so clever line of reasoning, I am sure, is what led to the quagmire that is Iraq. "Those [primitive] people will greet us as liberators! Gratitude brings new source of oil! We're so smart!"
twreckx
hammertime1994
Posted 10:49 PM 6/4/08
@twreckx: I strongly agree. (though, I am not African, but other than that...)
hammertime1994