Belgrade Hosts First Public Solar-Powered Cell Charging Station 106
arisvega writes "Dead battery in Belgrade, Serbia? Head to the city's Obrenovac district, where a group of students has developed the world's first public charging station powered entirely by solar energy. Known as the Strawberry Tree, the structure's 16 ports support a variety of handhelds, allowing pedestrians to juice up their handhelds in just ten to 15 minutes, at no charge. Its built-in batteries can also store up to a month's worth of back-up energy, enabling the station to hum along at night, or even during Serbia's less sunny seasons. 'Energy from the sun is free, and it would be unethical to charge people to use the Strawberry Tree...We are trying to inspire young people to think about the source of the energy they use, and behave and act responsibly,' said the inventor Milos Milisavljevic (17 years old when he came up with the idea) and now, at the ripe old age of 22, is looking to plant new stations across other Serbian cities."
Youth is wasted on the young (Score:5, Insightful)
'Energy from the sun is free, and it would be unethical to charge people to use the Strawberry Tree...We are trying to inspire young people to think about the source of the energy they use, and behave and act responsibly,' said the inventor Milos Milisavljevic
If the entire Strawberry Tree installation was free to design, free to build, free to maintain, free to fix after being vandalized, and free of any rents or taxes on the land it stands on . . . then the question of fees would never enter the picture, because Strawberry Trees would already be available everywhere.
Until then, very few moral codes are irrational enough to condemn a fee for services rendered.
No kidding (Score:5, Insightful)
Now I should start by saying if they wish to provide this as a free service, I think that is wonderful. I've no objections to people who wish to provide something too people at no cost. If you are willing to eat the costs, time, money, and otherwise, then by all means. Altruism is great.
However his reasoning is extremely stupid. The sun does not charge for its energy, but then neither does any other source. Uranium charges nothing to release the energy it contains in a nuclear reaction. So why then does it cost money? Well because you have to mine that uranium (and by extension build equipment to mine it), refine it (and of course build a facility to refine it), and then have it operated in a proper reactor to turn it in to useful energy (which again you have to build). That the uranium charges nothing to release its energy has no bearing on there being costs to bring it to a useful state.
Same deal with solar. The sun bombards the Earth with electromagnetic radiation of many frequencies all the time, and does so at no cost. However, to do almost anything useful with that energy, you have to construct something. Even if it is as simple as capturing the IR to heat something you are going to need things like lenses, mirrors, insulation, etc.
In this case, of course, you need a bunch of solar panels, batteries, and associated hardware. That is not cheap to make. Solar panels, particularly efficient ones, take a good bit of work to produce and thus have a good bit of costs associated. Now if he wants to eat those costs and provide the service free, good on him. But let's not pretend those costs don't exist.
Solar power is NOT free. We don't want to go down the road where people think "Oh we don't need to put money towards solar/wind/etc because it is free." Hell no, we need to put money towards it. R&D and deployment isn't cheap. If we want it as one of our energy sources we need to be willing to spend money to make it happen.
Heck, money is the one and only reason I don't have solar on my condo. I live in a very sunny area, my association would let me do it, I like the idea, and so on. So why the hell don't I have panels? I can't afford it, that's why. The up front cost is too high. I am not a rich person I can't afford to bear it, even though it would pay for itself in a couple decades most likely.
Re:Youth is wasted on the young (Score:1, Insightful)
If capital setup costs were met by taxpayer funds, and ongoing operational/maintenance costs are free or also met by taxpayer funds, I don't see what the problem is. Unrestricted capitalism has been proven not to work, and funded social services have a long and successful tradition in europe.
Re:Youth is wasted on the young (Score:4, Insightful)
Or maybe its because if you charged a fee to use the service, you'd have to increase the price to account for the servicing overhead - either an attendant, or an automated ticket system with cut-off timers and all the associated electronics.
Instead its better to charge once via taxes or grants and then allow useage for free. More people will use it and the cost of providing the service will be much reduced.
Re:Youth is wasted on the young (Score:4, Insightful)
Proponents of unrestricted capitalism have the false belief that unrestricted power in the hands of a few is a good idea, those in favor of unrestricted socialism have the false belief that somehow just because someone works for the government they will automatically be any better than if they were working for themselves. And here is a hint, Hugo Chavez and his ilk are pretty much working for themselves, and only themselves, no matter how much they tell you they aren't. Look at Venezuala's economy ever since Chavez came into power. Despite incredibly high oil prices the economy has actually fallen behind a lot of it's neighbors because Chavez is looting it for his own personal gain. He wants you to think that just because he works for "the people", he actually gives a damn about the people. And with nobody to stand in his way, he can pretty much behave like the capitalists he so decries.
Re:Baaaaaad idea (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm sure electricity companies will go bust because people can charge their phones for free just by standing around outside for 15 minutes.
Or, maybe, cafes will start deploying this kind of system. After all, if you have to wait 15 minutes, you may as well have a cup of coffee at the same time. The energy cost is pretty much nothing. My phone's battery is about 5Wh, which at the price I pay for electricity is a tiny fraction of a penny, and would be lost in the noise for a small business.
Why not ask for donations so more can be build? (Score:4, Insightful)
There's no problem with it being free -- but this would be a way to make the idea spread. Some of the components will cost money to buy, some of the installation work might need to be done by a qualified installer / builder. If the first one allows you to keep some cash, it can be reinvested -- more can follow and more people would be able to enjoy the service.