Time Magazine's Amanda Bower today posted an excellent article looking at a Wi-Fi-based, solar-powered communications system in the mountains of Uganda. Installed by San Francisco-based non-profit Inveneo, the system provides Internet and VoIP access to 800 people in the Ugandan village of Nyarukamba.

"They designed a solar-powered Internet network that is inexpensive, easy to install and nearly maintenance free," Bower writes. "At its heart is a regional hub from which wireless relay stations -- some bolted to trees -- fan out for up to four miles and connect a network of PCs. Total cost, including solar panels and relay stations: $1,995."

The system's impact, Bower says, is inspiring. "Village income is rising, thanks to improved access to market prices for crops and co-ops formed with other villages," she writes. "Buying power has increased, health outcomes are improving, and more people are learning to read. Next month, Inveneo will deploy systems to schools and colleges in Uganda and Ghana, and hopes to expand over the next year to Swaziland, Senegal and the Philippines. And just in case the sun doesn't shine, Inveneo has worked out how to power up the system with a retrofitted bicycle."