Subject: [NEXTEL-1] New Tech Taps Solar Power To Deliver Broadband

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 14 Nov 2002 19:04:21 -0500

New Tech Taps Solar Power To Deliver Broadband

 By Mike Martin
 NewsFactor Network
 November 12, 2002

 "The use of solar panels to power wireless broadband equipment -- radios, antennas and
 the like -- is especially feasible and cost-effective in areas where traditional
electricity is
 not available," said UCSD researcher Kimberly Mann Bruch.

 Broad strokes of sunlight are bringing broadband  to remote areas without
 electricity. University of California, San Diego (UCSD) researchers have established
 solar-power stations that allow broadband microwave antennas to penetrate
 otherwise unreachable rural locations.

 The team's High Performance Wireless Research and Education Network, or HPWREN,
 now brings a much wider information superhighway to several Native American learning
 centers.

 "There are thousands of small communities that could access the wireless  Internet
 using the unlicensed microwave spectrum, as does HPWREN," UCSD researcher
 Kimberly Mann Bruch told NewsFactor. "The use of solar panels to power wireless
 broadband equipment -- radios, antennas and the like -- is especially feasible and
 cost-effective in areas where traditional electricity is not available."

 Recharging the Morning After

 The HPWREN stations utilize four
 80-watt solar panels capable of
 generating a peak power of 320
 watts. Four independent 94-AH
 gel cell batteries  can support
 up to four 2.4 GHz radios for five
 days if the panels should fail.

 "The solar panels are connected
 to a charge controller that
 disconnects the panels when
 there is not enough electromotive
 force to charge the batteries,"
 said Todd Hansen, who designed
 the HPWREN solar-powered
 stations. When the panels are
 disconnected, "the radios and
 amplifiers receive their power solely from the batteries," he added.

 Located in the San Diego County mountains near the La Jolla Native American
 reservation, the HPWREN solar system diverts most of the energy it collects to the
 batteries. A small amount of power goes to the radios and amplifiers, Hansen
 explained. "At this point, the panels are powering the radios and recharging the
 batteries from the drain of the night before."

 Smart Spaces

 The new solar technology will create "smart spaces," said UCLA computer science
 professor Leonard Kleinrock. "The concept of smart spaces," he told NewsFactor, "is
 to allow the services and capabilities of ... Internet technology to break loose from its

 confinement behind the screen on your computer and to appear in our physical world,
 namely in the walls, chairs, automobiles, desks, eyeglasses, et cetera, of our world."

 Kleinrock envisions a future alive with technology. "When I walk into a room, the room
 will know it is me and can provide services to me in a customized fashion," he said.

 Remote, Not Without

 Cost is not a concern in areas without electricity, said principal HPWREN investigator
 Hans-Werner Braun. "We use solar panels where there is no choice, hence
 cost-effectiveness really becomes irrelevant," Braun told NewsFactor.

 Lack of electricity is not the only factor motivating the HPWREN project, he added.
 Lack of interest from broadband suppliers is an equally important issue.

 "I could not even get support from broadband providers to connect my house at
 reasonable (beyond phone modem) speeds," Braun told NewsFactor. "Granted, I don't
 live in the middle of a city, but there are still plenty of people around."

 Waiting for the Business Case

 Commercial applications for solar-powered Wi-Fi  broadband may be several years
 away, which is likely one reason the National Science Foundation financed the
 HPWREN project when commercial providers could not justify such an investment.

 "HPWREN focuses on areas where there are real needs, but not enough of a business
 case -- yet -- for commercial providers to invest," Braun said. But he foresees
 developing interest ahead. As a case in point, he pointed out that "latecomer
 commercial Internet companies took over what the ARPAnet had researched, and
 NSFNET got to the point that it became commercially interesting."

http://sci.newsfactor.com/perl/story/19946.html

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