Solar-Powered Mobile

Vihaan Networks Limited (VNL)
Gurgaon, India
Solar-powered mobile base stations
Founder, Chairman, and CEO: Rajiv Mehrotra

Vihaan Networks (VNL), an Indian maker of telecommunications equipment, has designed low-cost, solar-powered GSM mobile network gear for remote and rural areas where people often have less than $2 a month to spend on their phone bills. Its base stations, which cost one-quarter the amount of traditional equipment, only require as much energy as a 50-watt lightbulb, while conventional base stations powered by alternative energy sources such as solar or biofuel can require as much as 3,000 watts. The equipment is currently being tested in India and by some of the world's largest mobile operators.