Vodafone VF 247 solar-powered mobile phone launched in India

The Vodafone VF 247 will be targeted at rural areas in India where electricity is not easily available.

Photo: Vodafone VF 247 solar phone showing off its solar panel

Vodafone Essar has unveiled the VF 247, a solar-powered mobile handset in India to serve the rural masses deprived of energy resources. Priced at Rs. 1,500, the phone will be available in stores by next month. The Vodafone VF 247 solar phone is not the first of its kind, however. Samsung had launched a similar solar-powered phone a year back.

It needs eight hours of sunlight to be fully charged. However, the user would have an option to recharge the phone with a regular electric charger as well. The Vodafone VF 247 has a special inbuilt software and hardware, Sun Boost, which ensures that the phone charges in normal daylight conditions, even in a room.

According to Marten Pieters, Chief Executive of Essar, this launch is likely to enable more people in rural India to go mobile. One little problem, we think, is that those who live in rural areas with no electricity often find Rs 1,500 too big an amount. However, this is something we have to see – Vodafone may know something that we don’t!

The 1.44-inch colour TFT screen-equipped GSM phone gives a performance of 4 hours of talk time with standby time of about 200 hours. Other features an FM radio and a powerful torch light – the last is a critical factor in phones sold in rural areas.

The company expects its Indian mobile subscriber base to grow substantially from the current 20 percent of the market. We have to applaud Vodafone for this initiative: any attempt to harness solar energy for the poor and do it affordably is always commendable.