Annette is a ReadySet entrepreneur who works with the Grameen Foundation AppLab as a Community Knowledge Worker.  Grameen gave the ReadySet to Annette through an affordable micro-loan, and she can now operate a micro-utility business by charging mobile phones and no longer has to use dangerous and costly kerosene lamps. Anette was able to earn enough income to be able to pay back the investment of the ReadySet in 3-4 months. She uses this additional income to better provide for her family.

MTN, Uganda’s leading mobile network operator, has launched the ReadySet, a portable solar energy system that will have a significant impact on the lives of Ugandans living off-grid or without regular access to electricity.  Distributed exclusively by MTN in Uganda, the ReadySet provides an entrepreneur with the opportunity to earn up to 100,000 UGX ($40 USD) from running a phone charging business.

 by John Pavlus - Fenix's "universal battery charger" clamps right onto the battery, no adapter plugs necessary. When I was on a National Geographic crew shooting in the Congo several years ago, batteries were my gods --each one a tiny little idol of power, allowing our cameras to run and our hard drives to spin -- and because we spent most of our time nowhere near any kind of outlet, I feared and revered my batteries in equal measure. Oh that I had a Fenix universal battery charger in those days -- instead of worrying whether I had the right adapter plug, I could just clamp the sucker right onto the battery's metal contacts.

by Jon Evans - As I type this, a UPS beeps furiously behind me, over the growl of half-a-dozen diesel generators on the street outside. I’m in an Internet café in Leh, a city nestled in a Himalayan valley surrounded by 6,000-metre / 20,000-foot peaks, the fast-growing capital of India’s northernmost territory Ladakh. It’s clearly outgrown its electrical capacity; power cuts hit several times a day. 

by SmartPlanet -  San Francisco start-up Fenix International has developed the ReadySet, a lead-acid based battery, housed in a safe, leak-resistant plastic casing that has plug-in adapters on the exterior shell. The battery can power multiple lights and electronics at the same time. To recharge the battery, users can pedal on a stationary bike, use a mini-solar panel that comes with the battery, or use existing nearby electricity. The ReadySet costs $150 before shipping.

By Mary Catherine O'Connor - The problem is not just that there are roughly 500 million cell phone subscribers in the developing world who do not have easy access to a power grid*. One solution to this conundrum – using a car battery to juice up phones – creates its own problems. The lead acid inside the batteries can leak and burn users. Plus, users often must lug the battery a long way, into town, to recharge them.

By Mary Catherine O'Connor - Last week, Triple Pundit enjoyed fly-on-the-wall status at a pitch session between cleantech entrepreneurs and a panel of cleantech investors from leading Bay Area firms. Thirteen entrepreneurs took their pitches to the podium, each were given two minutes to describe their product or service, and each then fielded questions from the panel. Once the Q/A ended, the investors gave each entrepreneur frank assessments of where the pitch worked and–more importantly–where it failed.

By Ariel Schwartz - Last week, Fast Company had the chance to sit in on a venture-capital pitch session featuring a number of startups that have in the past participated in the Cleantech Open, a series of competitions that provides funding and advice to cleantech startups. Below, we look at three of the companies with the most compelling pitches.

By Rob Goodier - One of the problems facing developing countries is that people in rural communities tend to walk around with dead cell phones. That is because mobile devices are cheaper than ever, but power plants are still expensive. But as a work-around in off-the-grid communities, phone owners have learned to run charge cords off of used car batteries.

By Lesley Stones - Telecoms companies must continually innovate and evolve, otherwise they'll disappear from this unforgiving industry in a jiffy. Some are better at it than others, and some bounce back after setbacks that would cripple less enterprising entities. Lesely Stones looks at 11 companies that Africa Telecoms believes will do big things in 2011. They're listed in no particular order, and since technology trends and public demand are notoriously fickle, don't sue us if we're wrong!