Hydrogen phone chargers to keep Africans connected when power goes off

African smartphone users will soon have an alternate means to get round the power shortages afflicting much of the world’s poorest countries – a portable charger that relies on hydrogen fuel cells.

British business smart Energy designs to roll out 1 million of the new chargers in mid-December, mostly in Nigeria and South Africa, after effectively checking them in Nigeria over the last five months, its buyer electronics managing controller, Amar Samra, said.

“In emerging markets where the grids are not reliable and people are using (mobile telephones) as a prime device, it is objective critical; if you’re out, you’re out,” Samra said on the sidelines of a telecoms seminar in Cape village.

The chargers are conceived to back up the spread of smartphones and tablets across nations where cellphones have already helped to transform inhabits and businesses.

commerce body GSMA, which comprises about 800 of the world’s wireless operators, said in its latest report that smartphones were key to increasing mobile Internet access in sub-Saharan Africa where present penetration of 4 percent of the population lags the international mean of 17 per hundred, Reuters accounts.

Ericsson forecasts that smartphone traffic in Africa will boost tenfold between 2013 and 2019, when round 476 million apparatus will be in use.

“Alternative causes of power are very significant, because smartphones and other apparatus need allotments of power and you need to ascribe up every four hours, so for a businessman it is crucial,” said Melvin Angula, an engineer attending the seminar.

The hydrogen chargers, which fit effortlessly into a handbag, comprise of a fuel cell and a non-disposable cartridge that can be detached when tired.

Samra said consumers could expect to pay less than $5 dollars to “refuel” a cartridge of the charger.

This would convert to a cost of less than $1 to charge a telephone, he said, supplementing that final charges would finally depend on how telecoms businesses marketed and sold the merchandise.

Samra said that if acquired over the counter, the entire device will cost under $200, although choices being advised encompass $10 a month for a two-year agreement or getting it for free.

“We always have troubles with cell batteries, so everybody will be enthusiastic for portable power. But, it has to be the right cost for it to fly in our markets,” said businessman Thabo Magagula, who furthermore attended the seminar.

in addition to smart power, Japan’s Aquafairy has also been developing fuel cell chargers, Samra said.

Other companies, such as Dubai-based developer Solarway, have commenced solar driven kiosks conceived for communities that are not connected to a power grid, each adept of charging up to 40 cell telephones a day.