Solar-powered ATM under construction in Seattle.
Like a lot of urban neighborhoods, Seattle’s Phinney Ridge and Greenwood sections hold a farmer’s market every weekend in the summer. It sets up in the parking lot of the Phinney Neighborhood Center, a local community center.
And, since farmer’s markets rely heavily on cash, the center has decided to install a cash machine for the market.
But unlike most ATMs, this one is solar-powered.
The Phinney Center is installing a solar-powered ATM in its upper parking lot. It should be up and running for Friday’s Farmer’s market. It will be in a secure “cage” that will be locked at night.
Of course, as with any new technology there are bound to be a few hiccups, as a follow-up post demonstrates:
The prototype solar-powered ATM recently installed in the Phinney Neighborhood Association’s upper parking lot has been removed after getting “fried” by too much power coming from its solar cell array, according to the PNA.
They expect to install a revamped ATM in the spring.
The effort demonstrates a powerful idea: The go-anywhere ATM. With a solar array and a wireless adapter, ATMs can go without power cords, telephone lines or Internet cables. An operator could cart them around to fairs, festivals, markets and other temporary venues and place them anywhere. Or they could be used in remote locations where power and Internet connections are hard to come by. The possibilities are endless.d
The original “prototype” system was designed by a third party who had little knowledge about how solar systems operate. It had design flaws from the very beginning that could not be overcome. A second system was designed from the ground up and installed in Nov. of 2009 and has been running successfully ever since with few hiccups. If you want more information about the new system, see our website at http://www.solaratms.com.
[...] to go off the power grid are still in the prototype stage. But wireless ATMs — machines that use either WiFi or cellular phone networks to [...]