As anyone who’s ever tried driving across the State of Vermont can tell you, the technology behind cell phones is still far from perfect. 

Even in urban areas, where telecommunications firms have a massive incentive to provide dense, reliable service, and in flatter areas, where geography makes the task far less complex, nagging dead spots still dot the landscape.

But Swedish-Asian telecommunications vendor VNL may have developed a solution to the dead-zone problem by incorporating clean solar energy into their plan. A small, low-power cell station, called WorldGSM, requires only a few solar panels to meet its power needs, and contains a 72 hour battery back-up system. 

By reducing traditional power requirements and adapting a renewable, self-contained energy source that requires no connection to existing infrastructure, the WorldGSM system simultaneously reduces costs and environmental impact, while making any cell carrier that buys the technology far more attractive to cell phone consumers.  

Because they offer attributes that no other power system can match, it may be through niche applications like this that cleaner technologies gain a foothold in the larger energy market.