A company called Meraki is selling a variety of solar-powered Wifi options that may make sense for public entities, businesses or even some consumers.
It's pricey to install ($1,300+), but over the long haul this sort of device may pay off. Not only would there be financial benefits, but there would be good public relations to be had. Imagine an airport being able to say "Our free wifi is brought to you by the power of the sun."
For businesses, it would be an easy way to reduce your carbon footprint, which is a marketable concept. If you're an owner of an appartment complex, imagine being able to say that you'll throw in free, solar-powered Wifi as part of the rent.
It would have good applications at parks, fairgrounds and more. See Meraki's Web site for more details.
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The equivalent open-mesh.com repeaters cost about $5 per month at $0.13 per kilowatt-hour. So this solar repeater would take about 20 years to pay itself off in power!
ReplyDeleteI don't think the use case there is necessarily somewhat who wants to be environmentally friendly - this device is exactly the opposite. The use case is really where wired power is inaccessible, and you'll pay a premium as a result.