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Solar Power Wi-Fi Grid Network Project For Schools
The solar-powered Wi-Fi grid network for schools in the developing world concept emerged from two sources; a partner and a customer I have come to know through my work as manager of strategic marketing and solutions for the telecommunications industry at Sun Microsystems.
The Sun partner builds and deploys high tech, solar-powered Java based parking meters. The impressive element of parking offering rests in the power management and efficiencies with small solar panel mounted on the top of the parking meter unit.
All interesting technologies spur the question; How could this technology be applied to solve other problems, particularly problems where these solutions could benefit people in developing nations in a meaningful and immediate way?
It was just before the new year, November 2005, Greg Wyler, CEO of the Rwanda Telephone Company, was hosted in Sun's executive briefing center, Menlo Park, California. Having made his mark during the days of the dot com boom, Greg decided to give back to society by purchasing the Rwanda Telecom with the stated mission of providing affordable and ubiquitous voice and data communication to this troubled and challenged part of Africa. As Greg explained, during this visit, the types of challenges he was facing in helping close the digital divide in Rwanda a number of themes developed but the one that stuck out in my mind was the scarcity of power at virtually all elementary schools in the region.
I had also been tracking the progress of two projects coming out of MIT: the $100 laptop (One Laptop per Child) Initiative and the RoofNet Project (experimental 802.11b/g mesh network).
These efforts at MIT, parking success with Java-enabled solar power management systems, and Greg Wyler's dilemma created a convergence of thought:
What if we could create a low cost, sustainable, solar-powered Wi-Fi grid network solution leveraging super efficient, low cost solar panels and batteries? What if we could partner this solutions with low cost laptops to enable Wi-Fi internet access to Rwandan children and schools throughout the developing world?
It is out of these questions GREEN-WiFi was born. GREEN-WiFi strives to apply smart, sustainable, communications technologies to help bridge the digital divide for children in the developing world. A solar-powered Wi-Fi grid network solution can be part of the answer.
Bruce Baikie - San Francisco, CA
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