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From Cell Phone Charging to LED Lights

Aug 31, 2009 Africa, Ghana, Innovators, Power, Technology

In an earlier post, I covered the work of a Ghana inventor named Nana Owusu Acheampong who was using D-Cells and a custom made wooden battery holder to charge cell phones. On a recent visit to Bonsaaso, a small village about 100KM south of Kumasi, the great pleasure of meeting Mr. Acheampong and seeing first hand some of the projects he has been working on.

Cheap Chinese LEDs, which are pervasive in Mali, have not yet reached this part of Ghana so Mr. Acheampong and others have started to make their own LED light arrays powered by wooden box battery holders. Asked how he came about the idea for the battery boxes, Mr. Acheampong explained that observed his radio worked that way so he “took the power out of his radio”.

I’ll let the photos speak for themselves. It was a thrill to meet someone so truly passionate and excited by his own creations. He is exactly the kind of person who with a bit of support, access to better materials and little extra electrical training could help light up a community.

LED light made from MTN advertising and LEDs purchased from Kumasi.

Used CD helps reflect the light from the LEDs.

How Mr. Acheampong lights his room. He no longer purchases kerosene he claims.

Note: Rural Africa still relies heavily on disposable D-Cells for much of its energy. They are popular for their low purchase price, however, they are expensive on a $/AH basis and environmental standpoint. Thus, the idea of creating small businesses around rechargeable D-Cells intrigues me. It seems like an obvious idea but I’ve yet to see it done. If you know of examples of where this is being attempted please let me know.

C-Cell Mobile Phone Charging in Ghana

Jun 24, 2009 Africa, Ghana, Innovation, Mobile, Power, Solar

Nana Owusu Acheampong's C-Cell Phone Charger

Kevin Rehak, an MBA Student at Columbia University that I am working with, recently sent me this photo of an innovative approach to cell phone charging in Ghana.  Using a charging system he made himself, Mr. Acheampong, one of the Abusuapanin Community Leader’s in Bonsaaso village, use’s 4 C dry cell batteries to charge mobile phones.  The four 1.5V batteries in series adds up to 6V which is similar to the 5.5V that most cell phones require (amperage varies). The set of batteries cost 1 Ghana Cedi and he is able to charge four phones before needing to replace the batteries.  This compares to the 1 Cedi cost of charging a phone at the local cell tower.

Obviously, for a number of reasons this solution is not ideal.  The phones charge very quickly (~10 minutes) but are probably receiving too high of a current which damages batteries.  From an environmental standpoint, this method is particularly wasteful.  All this is to highlight both the huge demand for cell phone charging in rural areas in Africa and a general lack of cheap and efficient technologies available for entrepreneurs like Mr. Acheampong.

Tough Stuff Solar Panel

Luckily, a lot of new products are beginning to enter the market that should help change this.  The Tough Stuff Solar Panel a 1W (5.6V, 174mA) highly robust, amorphous panel that is ideal for charging individual cell phones is a particularly exciting example of this.  More important then spec, the Tough Stuff Panel (with cell connectors) comes in at about €10 or less per panel retail.  The retail price will obviously have to be a bit more but if you consider existing charging practices (see above) even a $20 price-point seems very viable.

Also see related post on 12V Cell Phone Charging Practices in Mali