Solar energy for the homeless

Tuesday, 05 May 2009 08:19

The homeless in Copenhagen will soon be able to recharge their mobile phones on the street - with solar energy.

500 street vendors of the monthly homeless magazine Hus Forbi in Copenhagen are soon to be equipped with solar cell bags where other homeless can plug in and recharge their mobile phones.

“One of the homeless came up with the idea and presented it to us,” says Tanja Møller Jensen who works at one of Copenhagen’s eight eco-centers, according to the national daily Berlingske Tidende.

To a homeless, the mobile phone is a crucial lifeline, and finding a place to recharge it can be a major challenge.

“It never occurred to us that it could be a problem for homeless to get power for the mobile phone, but of course it is,” says Tanja Møller Jensen.

The project is financed jointly by the local municipalities of Copenhagen and the city’s eco-centers. A young design company, FAKTOR 3, which specializes in solar energy and sustainability, was trusted with designing the solar cell bags.

“We have been working intensely for a couple of weeks developing it and have just managed to get the prototype ready. If everything goes well, the bags will be on the street by June,” says industrial designer Barbara Bentzen, FAKTOR 3.

She hopes the focus on this year’s UN climate conference in Copenhagen will make the idea spread to homeless in other countries. (Source: cop15.dk Michael von Bülow )