You probably don’t think much about charging your phone. Just find an outlet, plug it in, and wait a while. Can’t find a cable or wall wart? A rainbow of cheap, candy-colored options awaits you down at the brightly-lit corner drugstore.

This scenario couldn’t be further from reality in third world countries like Papua New Guinea, where people living in remote jungles have cell phone coverage, but have to charge their phones by hooking them up directly to cheap solar panels and old car batteries.

[Marius Taciuc] wants to change all of that. At the suggestion of his friend [Brian], he designed an intermediary device that takes any input and converts it to clean 5 volts with a low-cost, reliable buck converter. The inputs are a pair of alligator clips, so they can be connected to car battery terminals, bare-wire solar panel leads, or 9V connectors.

Mobile phones mean so much to the people of Papua New Guinea. They’re like a first-world care package of news, medical advice, and education. At night, they become simple, valuable lanterns. But these dirty charging hacks often lead to house fires. Someone will leave their phone to charge in the morning when they go off to hunt, and come home to a pile of ashes.

This is an open, simple device that could ultimately save someone’s life, and it’s exactly the type of project we’re looking for. [Marius] hopes to see these all over eBay someday, and so do we. Charge past the break to see [Marius] discuss the Brian Box and the people he’s trying to help.

Continue reading “Open Hardware Takes Charge In Papua New Guinea” →