Nokia launches portable solar charger in Kenya
Nokia have apparently launched the DC-40 solar charger in Kenya. This is aimed at a surprising 80% of Kenyas that are said to lack regular access to electricity. At 1250 Sh, that’s only around 14USD or 9GBP.
When under direct sunlight, the Nokia DC-40 will take only 4 hours to charge a 1000mAh battery.
General manager for Nokia, East Africa says:
There are numerous advantages to this solution, including being able to service consumers outside of regular electricity supply, or those who need a quick charge on the go…
However, perhaps the greatest benefit is the cost saving achieved by being able to harness the natural resource of the sun…
Nokia prides itself on its ongoing sustainability programs to minimize power usage. This solar charger provides an extremely environmentally friendly solution that is free of CO2 emissions.
http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/business/2012/10/nokia-launches-portable-solar-charger-in-kenya/
Soure: capitalfm
Cheers Viipottaja for the tip!
Category: Accessories, Nokia
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WTF
.
That what i call inovation
I want one
This could actually be quite useful in sunny countries such as Mexico, America or Australia. They should sell them here as well, would lessen the impact on the environment
am from east africa too this is good news for us, i hope nokia they will do more research for us like reduce size of the solar charger and make it more portable.
Remember when Nokia had a solar charging battery/battery cover for the, was it Nokia 1610? This was somewhere in 1996 or so. Just flip the phone upside down on a table in sunlight and it charged.
I wonder now that Nokia has those removable covers/wireless charging covers for Lumia 810/820, could they maybe consider a solar cover again. The smaller size-requirements for modern phones (as well as the power requirements) obviously make that a hard proposition.
It was the 1611, my memory was off by one.
Here’s a pic:
http://www.bsp.ru/TECH/NOKIA/1611_solar.jpg
Wasn’t it just year(or two year) ago when Nokia made the survey and field testing with solar powered phones. Results were not good having panels directly on phone. I remember there was that story here in MNB also…
So maybe we just need to have this portable charger instead. Hopefully this comes to finland also, I could see potential customers all over finland (in summer cottages without electrisity, all summer cottates to have emergancy backup energy, northern lappland and so on…).
Uh my memory. it was so recent as early this year. Nice to read that they got positive results in Kenya and now Kenya got at least the charger separately. I assume they will be getting the phone also.
http://www.smartcompany.com.au/telecommunications/20120105-nokia-ends-solar-research-study.html
Good link, thanks.
And I agree, Nokia should sell the separate charger globally.
Could be useful in the summer, but charging a 1500-2000 mAh battery of a modern smartphone would still take a long time at these latitudes even close to the summer solstice. Solar chargers are of course already available from third parties, but they have not been hugely popular.
I think the real breakthrough of solar chargers at higher latitudes will come with folding chargers, which can be folded open for use and therefore provide a much bigger area. The basic tech for such chargers already exist, but has not been productized yet.
Well it was actually Nokia 1610 plus, i had it and to be honest the solar charging didn’t work good.
http://press.nokia.com/1997/03/20/the-nonstop-nokia-1610-plus-features-the-unique-light-battery-with-solar-panels-nokia-introduces-the-most-mobile-phone-under-the-sun/
Nokia once more showing that they are the only real global mobile phone company, fulfilling the needs of the local markets. That being said, I want one also
+1
i’ll take 2
with the current level of sun in KE, the charger may need to charge for only 2 hours instead of 4.
want 1.
Bravo, that’s what I call caring for your consumers
I’m from Kenya and I think 80% is a bit of a big number…..but the concept is a good idea. I might consider getting one myself
They probably count in the 80% everybody who doesn’t have electricity available 24/7 right where they live.
Cool!!
nokia has a soul,
and the charger is very reasonably priced.
Verry nice
This is what I call rather great news.
It is even better than the wireless charging that had been mention for numerous times.
Nice indeed!