Working their asses off! Turkish farmers charge laptops using solar-powered DONKEYS

  • Technology is used by herdsmen in the province of İzmir, Western Turkey
  • It allows them to stay online while on their farming trips across the country
  • The solar panels can generate between five to seven kilowatts of energy
  • Ser-Gün, a Turkish solar panel producer, is behind the ‘plug and play’ panels which cost 2,800 Turkish Liras (£775 or £1320)

By Ellie Zolfagharifard

Published: | Updated:

Village farmers in Turkey have launched what could be the latest trend in wearable technology: solar powered donkeys.

A group of forward-thinking herdsmen in the province of İzmir, Western Turkey, wanted to find a way to stay online on their long, lonely farming trips.

What better way, they thought, than to use the latest in cutting edge renewables and transport it on their trusty drove of donkeys.

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Donkey work: Village farmers in Turkey (pictured) have launched what could be the latest trend in wearable technology: solar powered donkeys. Farmers walks alongside the animal to help steady the panel, which can generate up to seven kilowatts of energy

Donkey work: Village farmers in Turkey (pictured) have launched what could be the latest trend in wearable technology: solar powered donkeys. Farmers walks alongside the animal to help steady the panel, which can generate up to seven kilowatts of energy

In footage from Ruptly news agency, the farmers are shown attaching large solar panels to a donkey to power their mobile devices.

Farmers walks alongside the animal to help steady the solar panel, which can generate between five to seven kilowatts of energy.

When the farmers reach their destination, a man sits in the shade cast by the panel and opens his laptop to check the latest news online.

Now that's an ass-et! In footage from Ruptly news agency, the farmers are shown attaching large solar panels to a donkey to power their mobile devices. Here a farmer leads the power-generating donkey along a dusty trail

Now that's an ass-et! In footage from Ruptly news agency, the farmers are shown attaching large solar panels to a donkey to power their mobile devices. Here a farmer leads the power-generating donkey along a dusty trail

The farmers also claim that during birthing season, the panels are particularly helpful in providing extra lighting

The farmers also claim that during birthing season, the panels are particularly helpful in providing extra lighting

A group of forward-thinking herdsmen in the province of ¿zmir, Western Turkey, wanted to find a way to stay online on their long, lonely trips

A group of forward-thinking herdsmen in the province of İzmir, Western Turkey, wanted to find a way to stay online on their long, lonely trips

Mobile phones only use around two to six watts when charging, so in the right conditions, the panel will have enough energy to charge over 1000 mobile phones.

Shunning the simple life, the Turkish herdsman can now stay online, updating Facebook and catching up on the latest episode of Breaking Bad.

The farmers also claim that during birthing season, the panels are particularly helpful in providing extra lighting.

Ser-Gün, a Turkish solar panel producer, is behind the ‘plug and play’ panels which cost 2,800 Turkish Liras (£775 or £1320).

‘We aim to better the daily comfort of the producer in the countryside, providing sustainability for sheepherding,’ Ser-Gün Chairman, Tamer Uğurluel, told Cihan news agency.

Mr Uğurluel added that the project was the result of a 30-year-old collaboration between the local sheepherding association in the province and the government.

The Turkish state covers half the cost for the solar panels using public funds used to support development in the countryside.

Mobile phones only use around two to six watts when charging, so in the right conditions, the panel will have enough energy to charge over 1000 mobile phones. Pictured here is a generator

Mobile phones only use around two to six watts when charging, so in the right conditions, the panel will have enough energy to charge over 1000 mobile phones. Pictured here is a generator

BOSTON PARK INTRODUCES SOLAR-POWERED PUBLIC BENCHES

Bostonians whose smart phones are in need of a little juice must look no further than their closest public park.

The city and its partners at MIT announced Friday the debut of Soofa, the solar-powered bench with a USB port to charge your cell phone in green spaces across Beantown.

After all, reasons Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, 'your cell phone doesn’t just make phone calls, why should our benches just be seats?' 

According to a city press release, the benches will debut over the course of a week in locations that include Titus Sparrow Park in the South End, the Boston Common, and the Rose Kennedy Greenway.

The benches are the second such smart seats in the city. A previous partnership between the MIT Media Lab, its spin-off firm Changing Environments and the city itself was a similar but smaller device called Seat-e. 

'We’re delighted to continue the Greenway's partnership with New Urban Mechanics and the MIT Media Lab,' said Jesse Brackenbury, Executive Director of the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy. 'The Soofa will allow visitors and their phones to enjoy the sun on the Greenway.'

The forward-thinking benches feature two USB ports and a solar panel. Users will have to provide their own charging cords.


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