Gemalto, global leader in digital security, has announced that it will provide M2M connectivity for SOLARKIOSK, which is a compact, solar powered station, carried onboard a moving vehicle.
According to Gemalto, the cabin has photovoltaic panels throughout its roof to produce sustainable energy in areas that are far from conventional power cabling and infrastructures. The Cinterion® modules give rugged M2M connectivity powering a mobile router, provided by INSYS icom, which enables condition monitoring of the SOLARKIOSKs’ photovoltaic panels and tracks energy production and consumption through a web interface.
“The SOLARKIOSKs, which are easy and fast to distribute, support simple plug-in access for devices, appliances and wide range of systems. Every kiosk produces enough electricity to operate the cellular router and recharge 220 cell phones everyday – up to 80 at the same time,” stated Gemalto.
In a statement, Gemalto mentioned that the M2M solution provided by INSYS icom monitors and manages the solar panels on a 24/7 basis, tracking energy input and output, offering a reliable system for power delivery to end users, and automatically reporting potential problems.
“The SOLARKIOSKs generate sustainable electricity for various services, including refrigerated storage for medicines and for consumer products. By delivering these benefits to remote communities, the SOLARKIOSKs are anticipated to change the lives of millions of people who live in the rural areas of developing countries. By now, projects are operating in Kenya, Botswana and Ethiopia, supplying both power and access to information, especially for education and building a social hub for local communities,” Gemalto added.
According to Michael Gartz, the director sales and marketing for INSYS icom, one of the greatest challenges for M2M communication is to work properly in extreme surroundings such as the tremendous moisture of a South American rainforest or the intense heat of an African desert.
“INSYS icom and Gemalto heavy duty technologies are perfectly suited for those regions that are not connected to an electricity grid, such as rural and remote areas in developing districts and countries affected by disasters. An estimated 1.5 billion people worldwide live in such regions, with 600 million in Africa alone and SOLARKIOSK will be there to serve them.” Gartz further added.
Thomas Steffen, M2M regional manager at Gemalto also noted: “In most parts of the world, traditional power infrastructures are difficult to install and rapidly become costly to maintain. With SOLARKIOSK, we aim to play a social role in meeting such Machine-for-Human challenges, whatever the geographical constraints.”