I’ve written in the past months about solar power’s prospects outside of large-scale solar farms and residential paneling, mostly as it would apply to gadgetry and daily use items. But it’s clear now that cell phones, as I’ve mentioned before, are a new frontier for the budding solar market, especially as they apply to the developing world. Africa and India are the prime example of marketplaces that are waiting to explode with this new technology. Because traditional power is much more sparse in these two continents, solar powered cell phones will make it much easier for people who would otherwise have to trek miles to the nearest electrical outlet to use cell phone technology to their benefit. And, of course, India and Africa are both bathed in sun. 

MSNBC cited Uganda as a prime market for solar cell phones in an article last week: “Just eight percent of the country’s 32 million plus population have electric grid access. Even when the grid is there, like where Mawa lives in Mulago, a poor suburb of Kampala, the power is costly and the service is intermittent.” So far Nokia, Samsung, and a few others have ventured to make these phones readily available to developing nations, but it’s safe to say that many more companies will be looking to capitalize on the opportunity in the near term. 

[image via Oracio Alvarado]