Wow what a great idea, sun-powered street lamps. The Starsight project is putting in place sun-powered street lamps in Cameroon, Africa. It is estimated that there are 40 million street vendors in Africa that currently use paraffin lamps. This would be a major technology shift for Africa if the sun-powered street lamps can be deployed broadly across the continent. Initially, these “virtual utilities” can be used for light, to cook, and to power cell phones. Other uses for the virtual utility nodes could include disaster warning systems, pollution monitors, and other location-aware network services. See SmartMobs posting: StarSight – Street lamps recharge cell phones for more information. See picture of sun-powered street lamp – virtual utility.