What is this and how is it used? These are questions that 29-year-old engineer Stefan Stefanov often needs to answer. People are interested in the first and only one existing in Bulgaria public solar charger for phones and tablets. Guests and citizens of Varna could sit on a bench and charge their mobile devices or just use free Wi-Fi connection.

"The structure is five and a half meters high with a hemisphere of hoops at the top to which the solar panels are attached,” says engineer Stefanov about the design. “The charger is placed on a foundation that was provided for free by the municipality of Varna for a period of three years. The foundation is several meters long and the benches are placed on it."

People with disabilities also have easy access to the device. The whole structure was made to be robust and withstand wind and harsh atmosphere conditions. The design is the work of a famous architect from Varna and Stefan Stefanov contributed to improvements.

Information about the solar charger is present in Bulgarian, Russian, and English. In fact the device is quite easy to use. A hexagon structure hosts micro USB cables and USB ports. A green light shows when the port is ready to use. All USB ports are independent, which means that if one gets damaged the others would continue working. The device works entirely on solar power and in the night a LED light glows in different colors in order for people to see the charger.

Stefan Stefanov calls the solar charger "a social experiment." Why?

"I call it so because I want to see if society is mature enough for such a project and whether the charger would survive placed in public without protection. I think people will appreciate it and no one will be vandalizing it. This way in the future similar projects may become something common. Computer kiosks can be placed on the streets, etc.”

Stefan Stefanov is from Sofia, but choose Varna to place his first charger, because at that time he lived in this city and also believes the great number of tourists in Varna would appreciate the device. But he also says that in Sofia, unlike Varna, there are dozens of suitable locations for placing such a solar charger.

"Such a device can be located mainly in parks and in places there is shade, because it itself offers no shade. You cannot put it in the center of a square, because you will have to sit on the hot bench. In Sofia there are a number of parks across the city where the chargers can be placed. The shade of the trees is not a problem as the solar panels are very powerful and can charge the battery fast even with minimum of direct sun light.”

Every beginning is difficult including the implementation of good ideas. Currently, the young engineer is looking for sponsors to realize more similar projects in Sofia and other cities. He also relies on European projects and crowdfunding sites.

"These are sites where people discuss various projects and if they like an idea they can make donations for its implementation. People often receive prizes. For example if they contribute to the publishing of a book, they receive a copy of it. What I can do is including the name of a benefactor in the device. For a few minutes a day the charger’s display would show the name of a benefactor,” Stefan Stefanov says.

English: Alexander Markov

Photos: private library