Suntrica issues new solar-powered charger for rural villages

Wednesday, 24 February 2010 12:02  |  Michael Schwartz

Suntrica has brought out a new range of solar-powered chargers, including a community charger for rural villages in emerging markets, as well as and chargers for iPods and iPhones.

Visitors to Mobile World Congress (MWC) have been able to view for the first time Suntrica‘s new range of solar-powered chargers. Since MWC last year, the company has made “great progress.”

 Suntrica’s solar-powered chargers serve two different market needs and provide: 

• consumers in emerging markets with a reliable way to charge devices in areas where there is little or no electricity; and 
• developed markets with an effective and environmentally-friendly charger.

 Several products will become commercially available next March. For the first time, iPhone and iPod users will be able to charge their devices in an environmentally-friendly way using Suntrica’s SolarStrap. The charger also provides them with a portable power supply when they are out and about using their devices. It is available in four colours.

 Next is the Suntrica High Power Solar Harvesting Unit. This has been designed for use in rural villages in emerging markets and can be used by thousands of people to charge up their phones and any other electronic devices they may have. Suntrica anticipates that the chargers will be bought either by a community clubbing together or by a local village entrepreneur.

 Suntrica’s flagship product - Suntrica SolarStrap - is now available in black and grey and has improved solar harvesting capabilities. It is compatible with mobile phones and electronic devices including MP3 players, GPS devices and digital cameras. Along with Suntrica’s SolarBadge, SolarStrap is currently being used by relief workers in Haiti to power their mobile phones and was shipped as part of the Finnish Red Cross aid package to Haiti.

 Jouko Häyrynen, CEO and co-founder of Suntrica, said: “We welcome Apple’s customers to the environmentally-friendly way to charge batteries. In a few years’ time solar-powered chargers will be issued as standard. Our chargers are unlike anything else available on the market today as they are a portable and easy-to-use instant source of energy on the move.”

The GSMA estimates that 1.6 billion people do not have access to electricity and that another billion live in areas with unreliable access to power (GSMA figures).

* Suntrica was founded in 2006 and has offices and distributors across the world. In February 2009 Suntrica was named by GSMA as one of the 15 most innovative vendors in EMEA, and in April 2009 its solar-powered chargers beat off strong competition to take second place in the Green - Consumer Hardware category at the CTIA’s E-Tech awards.

More info:

• http://www.suntrica.com/