Solar cell phone charging stations provide free electricity to Greek immigrants

For migrants and refugees trapped in Greece, it is reportedly the most important "lifeline"
as long as the smartphone battery is charged.
But in crowded refugee camps, finding a place to charge your phone is very difficult
.
Even in cafes, sockets are always crowded with young and old, anxiously waiting to charge their phones in order to call their families to report safety
.
A team of students from the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom wanted to change that, designing solar-powered mobile phone charging stations, while Greece was by no means short of sunshine
.
The team has installed two solar-powered mobile phone charging stations, each equipped with 12 outlets, in a refugee camp in Greece, providing free charging for up to 240 people per day
.

The idea for the solar-powered mobile phone charging station came from Alexandros Angelopoulos, a 20-year-old student who came to Samos last summer, one of
the gateways for migrants and refugees from the Middle East and elsewhere fleeing war and poverty into Europe.

Hundreds of people arrive every day in rubber boats from Turkey, and despite exhaustion, they first take selfies to report to their families that they are safe
.
Others log into messaging apps or apps like Google Maps to plan new trips
to Northern Europe.
Angelo Boros said: "People started begging me to borrow my phone to call
my family.
"You can often see people waiting in front of the common sockets in the port
.

Samuel Kellerhals, a companion of Angelo Boros, said: "We want to make a positive contribution
to the local community through renewable energy.
Their solar-powered mobile phone charging station, called Project Elpis, which means "hope" in Greek, was built with the help of Entec, a Greek solar technology company
.

Now, Angelo Boros and Keller Hals are crowdfunding to build three more solar-powered mobile phone charging stations
.
They hope to set up such charging stations
in dozens of refugee camps across Greece.

When the first solar-powered mobile phone charging station was installed in Kara Tepe refugee camp on, the local government and residents were very excited
.
Stavros Miroyannis, the camp's manager, said he hopes to use solar
energy throughout the camp in the future.
Now, the installation of solar panels
on the camp streets has begun.
He called sunlight a gift
from the gods to mankind.