http://www.care2.com/greenliving/free-solar-powered-wifi-coming-to-a-town-near-you.html
Free Solar-Powered WiFi Coming to a Town Near You
Meraki–the ubiquitous WiFi company–announced their mission to bring affordable Internet access to everyone via new solar powered mesh repeaters. Here in San Francisco, I often connect my iPhone to their Free the Net hot spots while out and about.
But San Francisco isn’t the only place to benefit from this. According to the company, their customers span 125 countries and range from operators for individual buildings to large carriers connecting entire towns and regions. It seems their new solar units can only further their goal. The units will be ideal for such places as fair grounds, parks and rural areas. The unit isn’t cheap, costing $749 for a bring-your-own-panel model and up to $1,499 for larger units. But as pricey as that is, it can be significantly less than a wired solution.
It will be interesting to see if Meraki can complete their goal considering how large companies like Google and EarthLink have failed at such efforts both in San Francisco and in other cities like Philadelphia.
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4 comments
add your comment »Ummm, what are the safety implications - does this mean that we will not have as much electromagnetic energy in the environment or does it mean there will be no change just powered by a more eco friendly means? Does anyone know as I am not a fan of electromagnetics.
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However, for the wired connection, it is $15 - $30/mo. That is $1800 to $3600 for the same 10 yr. time configure. Also you need to pay for the electricity usage for that.
send green star
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Thank you. This is an exciting development to read about and a step in a good direction.
http://meraki.com/press-releases/2009/01/14/meraki-and-one-economy-team-up-to-bring-broadband-access-to-more-than-100000-low-income-families-globally
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"But as pricey as that is, it can be significantly less than a wired solution."
Those access points cost about $6/month to run at a price of $0.11 per kilowatt-hour (draws about 1 amp). So it would take close to 10 years to breakeven with the cost of the solar unit (~$1,000). $6/month * 12 months/year * 10 years is $720.
Significantly less? No way. You have an advantage that you don't need an outlet for the solar unit, and for that you pay a premium.
send green star
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