"Boda-boda" riders are cyclists in Kenya who offer bicycle rides to people wishing to travel between immigration offices along the borders of African countries. As they have to work outdoors from early morning to late evening, cell phones are very important to them for receiving booking calls from customers. By wearing this special solar vest installed with flexible solar cells on the back, the cyclists can make sure their handset is always charged so that they can be reached by customers anytime.
The solar vest is connected to a tiny storage battery to collect sunlight, which in turn could be used to provide continuous electricity to a cell phone. When they are off the bike, they can mount the vest on a window or a porch to keep charging their handsets, as long as there is sunlight. This means that power is generated for an average of 12 hours a day, from sunrise to sunset.
Not only can boda-boda riders take advantage of this technology, people who spend long hours outdoors, such as farmers, fishermen, campers, outdoor workers, hawkers and even tourists, will also be benefited. By harnessing the solar energy, not to mention it provides an environmental-friendly way to power up cell phones, constraints such as lack of know-how and cost of installing hard solar panels to the bikes can also be overcome.
