Accharge: Portable Cell-Phone Charger Final Report

Aaron Levine, Eric Li, Jithu Jose, Vaisakh Mani

Executive Summary

Accharge is a business focused on bridging the gap between India‟s overdrawn electrical infrastructure

and the energy demands required by India‟s rapidly growing population of cell-phone users. Accharge

is a portable mobile-phone charger that provides a reliable supply of electricity to commuting

professionals in Kerala. The basic model of the charger includes a wind-turbine that can provide these

users with a significant electricity supply while in transit. Furthermore, the device has connection ports

for a variety of add-ons that the individual customers can opt to purchase so as to instill the device with

the versatility that their day to day activities demand. The Accharge will allow for mobile-phones, an

increasingly ubiquitous necessity, to be a more reliable means of communication in regions with an

inconsistent electric supply. Our product philosophy is summarized in the company name: Accharge.

A combination of the Hindi word „Accha‟ - meaning „good‟ - with the English word „charge‟ - the

primary function of our product - the name carries the connotation of a device that can provide a

reliable and significant supply of power to users‟ phones. Furthermore, the name can be interpreted as

AC-Charge, giving users the impression of the ease of use and accessibility associated with AC outlets.

Through extensive research which served to inform a number of product revisions, we gained deep

insight into the cell-phone market in Kerala and how the mobile phone has transformed day to day life

there. We developed a business plan that intends to provide these individuals with a cheap yet robust

solution to their energy needs and allows for the product to be customized and tailored to their

individual requirements. Though a full scale prototype was not completed, we made significant inroads

into examining the feasibility of this product, along the way learning a great deal about Indian culture

and the process of developing a product from concept to company.

Cultural Understanding

To glean insight into how individuals in Kerala would perceive our product and, more broadly, how our

product might fit into the culture of Kerala as whole, we collected data that focused on prospective

users through personal interviews as well as more general information from Internet sources. An

interview of twenty people living in Kerala provided valuable information to guide the efforts and focus

of our product, while the online research we conducted served to further corroborate and embellish

these findings.

All interviewees reported that they had access to electricity but that there were significant issues with

the reliability of the electric supply. In other words, finding an outlet proves unanimously easy, but that

the outlet actually supplies the requisite electricity is not guaranteed and is frequently not the case.

Furthermore, despite India‟s identity as a developing country, and the frequently fallacious assumption

of an undeveloped technological infrastructure that accompanies this label, it is actually the second

largest cell-phone market in the world with a staggering 671 million mobile phone users, over twice the

total population of the United States.1 This ubiquity is reflected by the individuals we interviewed, who

themselves all own cell phones, and reported that cell phone use is now a deeply ingrained aspect of

daily life in Kerala. These interviewees further expressed that they had to frequently contend with

insufficient battery life for their cell-phones as a result of the unreliability of the electric supply. A

telling indication of the importance of cell-phones in the culture of Kerala is that the individuals we

interviewed told us that making a call in an emergency situation was of extreme importance.

As a society, India has readily and rapidly embraced the use of cell phones. India is in fact the largest

growing cell-phone market in the world and undergone unparalleled growth over the past decade. In

2002 there were only 6.4 million users, a vanishingly small number when compared to the current

number and when 20.31 million new mobile phone customers were added in March 2010 alone.1

Furthermore, this market shows no signs of slowing and is expected to reach 1 billion users in 2012, at

which point India is projected to be the largest cell-phone market in the world with 84% of its

population owning a cell phone.1

Cell Phone Usage from 1995 to 2008

Cell Phones (in Millions)

In contrast, the wired infrastructures in India, such as landlines and electricity supply, lag far behind the

growth of cell-phones. India is widely known to have a poor quality of power supply and frequent

power cuts and shortages, and “it is common for the 44% of rural households having access to

electricity to lose power for more than 12 hours each day”.2 This electricity shortage arises from the

disparity between the rapidly growing population and the current power generation capabilities. Kerala

has a maximum energy production capacity of 2657.24 MW while energy demands there have

exceeded 2800 MW, leading to rolling blackouts.3 This problem is not constrained to the state level and

in India as a whole, energy shortage reached 14.6% in April 2010.4 This information, along with the

reports of blackouts from our interviewees, helps to illustrate the unreliability of electricity in India.

Another important aspect in informing the power generating functionalities of our charger is the

prevalence of public transportation and the frequency with which it is used in Kerala. 90% of the

interviewees reported that they used public transportation with total travel times typically between 1

and 2 hours in a day. Furthermore, the most common forms of public transportation either don‟t have

electrical outlets, in the case of buses, or have very few, and consequently heavily congested outlets,

such as on trains. In summary, the increased reliance on cell-phones for communication coupled with

the over-strained and unreliable electricity supply in India suggest a large market for those who use

cell-phones and would like the assurance that their cell-phone could be charged and used at any time.

Both cell-phone usage and electricity demand in India are rapidly increasing and, accordingly, there is

growth in the market for a portable cell-phone charger.

Market Definition

Target Market.

Primary Market: Commuting professionals in Kerala who lack reliable access to electricity and rely

on mobile-phones for business and personal purposes

Secondary Market: Frequent users of public transportation who do not have reliable access to an

electric supply, such as students, and mobile phone users who desire to have a backup plan in

emergency situations

Markets Explained.

Many white-collar workers and small business owners live in rural villages and commute to the larger

cities where their places of work are located. This demographic includes vendors of various goods,

those employed in the private sector, and government doctors and teachers. These individuals tend to

be well educated and receive relatively high salaries. They rely heavily on their cell phones for

communication of both a business and personal nature but lack consistent access to a reliable power

source. Therefore, a mobile charger outfitted with the basic functionality of a wind turbine would be

ideal for charging their phones during the one to two hours of these individuals‟ average daily commute

time. Moreover, the various other methods of charge generation (hand-crank, hand-pump, and battery

functionality) that may be optionally added onto the basic charger will provide users with a versatile

device can be tailored to their specific needs.

Additionally, from our research, we know that many students rely heavily on their cell phones and

frequently use public transportation, often commuting for upwards of one to two hours each day. These

characteristics make them obvious beneficiaries of a mobile cell-phone charger.

DFX

Design for Extremely Low Cost.

By using locally imported goods, we reduce the overhead costs of transporting materials long distances,

as well as avoiding potential taxes and customs by going through international or state lines. In this

manner, using locally imported goods will reduce costs. An added benefit is that the closer our supply

of materials is, the faster we can get materials to produce our product, which could have a significant

impact on our speed of production.

Wisely choosing to import or produce parts could also lead to significant cuts in cost. For instance, take

the example of the battery-powered input portion of our device. We know that in manufacturing it we

will need the machines by which it is made, labor, and cost of materials, among other things, which will

likely equate to heavy costs. In doing further research, we may find that especially during the fledgling

stages of the product, it may be worth it to avoid the fixed costs (such as purchasing the machines) and

to purchase the battery-powered input from a third party supplier that is either pre-made or can be easily

assembled by manually putting pieces together. In this way, we might save much capital initially by

purchasing it from a supplier, and then further on switching over to self-producing when the fixed costs

are small relative to our revenue generated.

If we ensure that our product does not have any extraneous, unnecessary features that may constrain the

design and make it much harder to manufacture, we will be able to reduce our costs significantly. By

making a simple device that is uncluttered, it will be easier to manufacture as well as requiring less time

and materials, which will all lead to lower costs in the long run.

Moreover, making tolerances too small, while trivial from an engineering standpoint, can cause a

myriad of problems at the factory level. It may be the case that the machines and the workers are not

equipped to manufacture with very small tolerances. In trying to meet the tolerances specified by the

engineers, they may waste a lot of valuable time, energy, and resources for something that ultimately is

insignificant. So by making sure that we avoid unnecessarily wasting resources, we will be able to

significantly cut costs.

What materials we choose to use will also have a large impact on the overall cost of production. We

will avoid using expensive materials that add unnecessary improvements to our product. For example,

the casing of our cell-phone must be durable in order to withstand the stresses of use. To make our

product extremely durable, we could choose to use a steel casing. However, as we have seen from most

commercial cell-phone chargers, plastic will likely do a more than satisfactory job. By making

decisions such as these, we can also cut costs.

Design for Environmental Friendliness.

To be environmentally friendly, we will use eco-friendly materials that will ensure that our product will

not harm the environment at any stage during its lifetime. The three critical stages we have targeted are

the production and manufacturing of the charger, the use of the charger, and the disposal of the charger.

During the manufacture of our charger, we will ensure that our factories are not releasing harmful

pollutants into the atmosphere. We will be able to accomplish this by avoiding the use of hazardous

ozone-depleting substances, as well as implementing systems which will strictly monitor the chemical

output of our factories. Moreover, we will not allow any of our factories to dispose of waste by

dumping impure wastewater into lakes, oceans, streams, and other bodies of water. Again, a monitoring

system will be in place to thoroughly regulate the purity of wastewater that may be flowing to natural

sources of water to make certain that we are not inadvertently contaminating water supplies.

As for the use of our product, we have designed our product so that it does not emit or give off harmful

radiations or toxins that could harm both the user and the environment. Additionally, this product is

inherently environmentally friendly since it is an alternative to methods of electricity generation that

make use of fossil fuels. Hence, use of our product will decrease the demand for these harmful

electricity generation methods, which will benefit the environment in the long term.

The various components of the cell-phone charger will be composed of disposable and recyclable

materials whenever possible. Our factories and vendors will accept unwanted or worn out chargers that

we will personally process ourselves. In fact, we hope to reuse any salvageable components of our

device, such as the snap-on plastic casing. For any unrecyclable materials, we will make sure that they

are properly disposed of in a manner that will not harm the environment.

Design for Safety.

The most dangerous aspect of our product is the wind-turbine. However, for maximum portability the

wind-turbine is designed so that it is collapsible and therefore will be made of plastic, greatly

minimizing the chances that the blades will injure someone. Furthermore, to protect the blade and

prevent the user from coming in contact with the spinning blade, a plastic casing will encircle the

turbine. In this manner, the wind turbine will be very similar in nature to box fans, which countless

people around the world know to be safe from extensive use.

Another potential danger arises when affixing the charger to a window for wind-powered charging.

Because the charger is affixed on the inside of the conveyance, it could fall onto the user if not

strongly held in place. Therefore the charger must be able to withstand the considerable force of

oncoming wind. We will use stronger-grade Velcro straps that have been demonstrated to withstand

very strong forces (175 lb force for a 2 in2 piece) that will wrap securely around the bars which serve

as windows in the majority of buses and trains in India (Please see picture below).5 To be certain that

Velcro straps will reliably affix the charger, we will rigorously test the Velcro straps to eliminate this

danger and ensure consumer confidence. It is noteworthy that the charger is affixed to the inside of the

means of transport, which is considerably safer than if it were affixed to the outside where it could be

hit by or fall onto oncoming traffic and pedestrians.

Common Indian Bus

Beyond these two considerations, the device poses no other real dangers when used properly. Neither

the battery nor hand pump is amenable to misuse in a way that could result in any kind of injury.

While it is possible for repetitive motor injury to occur if physical methods such as the hand-pump or

hand-crank are used excessively, we envision that these methods will be primarily used in emergency

situations where only a phone call or two is necessary to ameliorate the situation, after which the

charging may be performed at a more relaxed rate.

Design for Maximization of Power Output.

We will employ various methods to extract maximum power while maintaining a compact design. One

such method will be to use a foldable fan that expands to a radius of approximately 2.5 inches when in

use. From the wind power equation, we know that power generated by the turbine varies with the

square of the radius of the rotor. Thus, in using a fan that expands to a larger radius than if it were

directly attached, we are able to generate significantly more power. We will also use a gear box for all

methods which generate charge through rotation. This will allow us to minimize the physical strain on

users, while maximizing the power output that comes from their inputted force. In addition, our design

is such that the majority of power supplied by our charger will be sent to the mobile-phone. By using a

simple indicator light system which requires minimal electricity to power it, we will avoid using

precious electricity for unnecessary features, with most of our electricity going to the primary

functionality of our charger.

Design for Human Interface.

Our goal in the design of the interface of the Accharge was to make it simple and intuitive. To this end,

there will be no “modes” or unnecessary features in our product that could confuse the consumer, one

simply uses the product. Each face of the device will be devoted to a single functionality so no

confusion arises when attempting to use a particular feature, and by isolating each component the

operation and purpose of that component will be made more apparent. Furthermore, this will ensure the

product is uncluttered. The basic model comes with the collapsible wind-turbine on the front and an

attachment port for a mechanically powered add-on on the opposite face. On the top and on one side of

the device will be connection ports for add-ons that directly produce electricity. Lastly, the cord that

transfers the generated charge to one‟s cell-phone will extend from the bottom.

It is important for the user to be able to know how much power is stored in the charger and how much

power is being output. This will be achieved through two clearly labeled indicators, which are

unobstructed and prominently located on the remaining side of the device. For the sake of simplicity

and ease of understanding, both indicators will consist of 4 LEDs that indicate full power when all are

lit and no power when none are lit.

Furthering our aim of intuitive use, all functionalities will be simple enough that one can deduce the

intended use by observation. For example, the battery add-on will be a cylindrically shaped slot that

only the battery could fit into. The user will quickly discover that when the wind-turbine turns, or the

hand pumped is pressed down that power is generated as shown by the indicator lights. Additionally, a

small manual that accompanies the product will outline the use of each component through clear figures

and concise instructions.

Design for Assembly.

In the interest of increasing the production rate of our product and minimizing the requisite amount of

worker expertise, it is advantageous to make the product as intuitive to assemble as it is to operate.

This will be achieved by making the various pieces of the product snap together in the casing. On the

inside of the case will be a space for the dynamo and shaft to snap in and a region for the circuit board

to snap in. Furthermore, the wind turbine can snap directly onto the shaft through a common component

that will allow for any of the mechanical add-ons to be substituted in for or used in accompaniment with

the turbine. This also minimizes the amount of screws necessary in the construction of the product and

avoids many of the common bottlenecks of production (such as screwing or soldering pieces together)

by having most of the attachment mechanisms be included in the case‟s molding. Also, by making the

add-on components separately and having the user attach these at their discretion, they are essentially

aiding in the assembly process.

Design for Maintainability and Reliability.

Since the Accharge is somewhat expensive we want it to last a long time, a goal made more achievable

if maintenance of the device is easy for the user. Every charge-producing component of the device is

interchangeable. Therefore if any break, it is a simple task to disconnect the damaged component and

use a working one in its place. For the more complex modes of energy production, replacement pieces

will be available so that the whole component doesn‟t have to be removed when only a small amount of

damage has been incurred. For example, the blades of the turbine, which undergo the most stress, can

be swapped out for new blades. By making the external functionalities of the device replaceable, the

durability of the product will increase.

Because of the snap-together assembly of the case, the device is easily opened to give the user access to

the dynamo and the output cord so that these too can be replaced in the case of damage. Because the

Accharge is essentially a group of distinct energy-generating functionalities brought together on a

single frame, each component operates independently of the others so that the failure of any one

component does not compromise the proper functioning of the device as a whole. This graceful failure

model is central to the reliability of the device since it virtually guarantees that the majority of the

energy-generating components will be functional at any given time.

A final consideration is the materials used for the product, which largely determine how it withstands

operational stress and, consequently, how long the device will last. Although cost is important, the

materials used, particularly the casing, will be strong enough to endure the forces it will be subject to

through constant use. In addition, areas subject to rotational stress, such as the wind-turbine axel and

hand-pump, can be easily lubricated.

Design for Individual Customer Needs.

Because our target market is broad it is important that the device can be easily adapted to the needs of

each individual. For this reason, the central unit of the charger includes only the wind-turbine

generating component since this is a need common to our market of commuting professionals.

However, a variety of add-ons will be made available for the customer to selectively purchase in order

to provide them with means of power generation that best complement their day-to-day activities.

Components that provide a direct source of electricity (such as the AA charger and outlet adapter) can

be connected through ports located at the top and side of the device that serve to both fasten the

component to the case and provide an electrical connection from the component to the circuit board.

Generating functionalities that rely on mechanical input (such as the hand-crank or pump) connect to

the rotation shaft through a hole in the front and back of the device (initially the product comes with the

turbine connected through the hole in the front). The customizable nature of the Accharge also reduces

the cost to the user since no user has to pay for a component they won‟t use.

The dynamic nature of this design is best illustrated when considering the widely varying conditions

individuals of differing vocations may encounter during the course of their work. For example, a vendor

who constantly finds himself in remote villages with poor electricity access for business would highly

value a hand-pump or hand-crank on his cell-phone charger as a safeguard in emergency situations. At

the same time, a teacher who typically commutes to and from the same locations each day may opt for

the battery functionality that can charge her phone reliably when he or she is in a classroom setting.

Product Development

Product Layout

Product Schematic

Much of the recent progress we‟ve made in terms of product development is in revising the concept of

the Accharge so as to better fit the demands that our target market impose upon it. Initially we proposed

a device that consisted only of the wind-turbine functionality as the sole means of producing an electric

charge. This was due to the fact that at the outset of our project, we primarily focused on a portable

charger that could provide charge to cell-phones while in transit.

As we conducted further research however, we saw that there were additional needs from our initially

targeted market of frequent commuters who use public transportation beyond solely being able to

charge their mobile phones while traveling. One such need was the ability to make a phone call in an

emergency situation. From the results of our market research, we found that the consensus among

interviewees was that a phone call in an emergency situation was extremely important. Hence, we

proposed the idea of a hand-crank that could be used in the aforementioned emergency situations.

Moreover, we knew that the hand-crank would potentially be cheap to manufacture due to its simplicity

and inherent compatibility with the wind-turbine. Shortly after the conception of this idea, we came up

with the idea for a hand-pump extension to the charger that improved on the hand-crank idea (see

figures below). Whereas a hand-crank requires the use of two hands to operate it, a hand-pump requires

only one hand, thus allowing a user to potentially charge their cell-phone in one hand while

simultaneously making a phone call in their other hand, greatly speeding up the charging process.

However, we realized that the hand-pump would be significantly more complicated than the hand-

crank, so we did not discard the hand-crank idea entirely and instead left it as a backup plan if the hand-

pump concept proved to be unrealistic.

Hand-Pump Diagrams

A further component conceived by our team was a battery charging functionality that could fill in the

gaps voided by the wind-turbine and hand-pump/hand-crank functionalities. A wind-turbine may only

be used when a wind-supply is present and a hand-pump/hand-crank is meant only to be used in

emergency situations thus making it impractical to be used for prolonged periods of time. A battery

component successfully allows for hassle-free charging without a wind-source present for a prolonged

period of time. As such, this iteration of our product was a versatile device that allowed for charging in

various scenarios commuting professionals in Kerala would encounter.

Issues arose when we computed the cost to produce our product. Initially we set a desired retail price of

$20 for our product. Yet, when we tabulated the theoretical cost of producing our device we found that

it was $45.31, which was far too high to meet our desired price. While we acknowledged that this

estimated cost we had come up with was likely an over-estimate, we realized that we had to re-evaluate

our product if we wanted to keep prices down for our customers. One of our focuses was to avoid

providing consumers with unnecessary services. Thus, the decision to unbundle the product was made,

leaving only the wind-turbine as the basic component with the other components available as

purchasable add-ons. In this way, after re-adjusting existing costs with new accuracy and cutting the

other functionalities, we found that the cost of producing our basic unit was reduced to a more

reasonable $14.80. Thus, by allowing the customer to select only what functionalities they desire, the

overall cost is reduced for both us and the consumer, while greater customer satisfaction is achieved.

Because 10 weeks did not provide us with enough time to construct a fully functional prototype, we

decided to instead focus on creating test and lab prototypes that could show proof of concept for our

ideas. In conducting research online, we found that the hand-crank and battery cell-phone chargers

already existed (see images below) which proved to us that these ideas were indeed feasible.

Furthermore, a hand-pump powered flashlight also exists (see image below), indicating to us that a

hand-pump cell-phone charger is possible.

Because the wind-turbine was the lone component not previously proven, we conducted further

experiments to determine the practicality of using wind-power to charge a phone. A fan was connected

to a small electric motor so that it directly turned the shaft of the motor. Winds at various known

speeds blew through the fan, spinning the motor and generating an electric current whose voltage and

currency was measured. From this data, we generated a plot graphing the power output as a function of

wind speed.

From this data, we see that the power output is proportional to the cube of wind velocity. We observed

that the power generated at 15 mph (6.75 m/s) is .628 W. However, since power scales with velocity

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

0 2 4 6 8

Current (mA) Vs Wind Speed (m/s)

Hand-Crank Charger Battery Charger Hand-Pump Flashlight

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

0 2 4 6 8

Voltage (V) Vs Wind Speed (m/s)

cubed, extrapolating our data to speeds of 20 mph, which could easily be attained when traveling in a

bus or train, gives a power output of 1.5 W at 20 mph. We ideally want about 4 W of power at 20 mph,

since this is enough output to charge even energetically demanding smart phones. Therefore, our final

product would incorporate a fan blade 2.5 inches in radius. As these experiments were conducted using

a prototype with a 1.5-inch radius fan blade, the 67% increase in radius would lead to a 2.8 fold

increase in power output since power scales with the square of turbine area. Furthermore, the electric

engine used for the prototype has a fairly low efficiency since it is intended to convert electricity into

motion rather than motion into electricity, which is how we used it for these experiments. Therefore,

with a dynamo in place of the electric motor and a turbine with a radius of 2.5 inches, the data collected

from out test prototype indicates that the wind-turbine functionality of the Accharge would be able to

charge most cell-phones during reasonable transit speeds of 20 mph.

To use the wind-turbine functionality of the Accharge it needs to be fixed to the inside of a window on

a bus or train. Initially, we envisioned affixing the Accharge to these surfaces through the use of a

suction cup. However, preliminary tests we conducted on the strength of standard suction cups showed

that they did not meet the standards of safety we expected them to. Additionally, most buses and trains

in India do not have glass windows but rather an open window with metal bars across it. Therefore, we

decided to employ a Velcro-strap on the back of the Accharge that could be fastened around the bar.

Velcro has the advantage of being much stronger than suction cups and more broadly compatible with

the types of transit our target market may use. For example, the Velcro strap could be fastened to a

bicycle or motorcycle handlebar and to the side-view mirror of a car as well as to a bus or train window.

In this way, incorporating a Velcro-strap rather than a suction cup is a safer option and better embodies

the versatility and adaptability that are core tenets of the Accharge.

Competition

We have the advantage of being the first product of our kind to be marketed in Kerala (first-mover‟s

advantage). Although products similar to ours are offered online, there has not been a concerted effort

to market these products to India. Furthermore, these online products are primarily marketed as

novelties rather than necessities, as they lack the versatility that would be needed to charge a cell-phone

in an area that truly lacks reliable electricity access. There is yet to be a product that focuses on the

specific market we are targeting.

By catering to the needs of our target market, our chargers will couple the flexibility and power

generation necessary to supply a reliable electric source to their cell-phones. In this way, we will be

able to improve upon existing products while also providing a new service to our target market.

As it stands, there are an enormous number of cell-phone users in India, which, when coupled with the

unreliability of electricity there, creates a large, currently unmet demand for a means to reliably use

their cell-phones. By positioning our product so that we may fill this demand, we will have a great

chance to succeed in capturing this large market.

Cost Understanding

Bill of Materials.

Component Purchased

Material

Processing

(Machine + Labor)

Assembly

(Labor)

Total Unit Variable

Cost

Turbine $2.55 $0.00 $0.10 $2.65

Dynamo $2.02 $0.00 $0.10 $2.12

Shaft $0.53 $0.00 $0.10 $0.63

Circuit Board $1.00 $0.00 $0.07 $1.07

Output Cord $0.70 $0.00 $0.00 $0.70

Plastic Casing $0.50 $0.35 $0.40 $1.25

Wires (1ft) $0.08 $0.00 $0.10 $0.18

Screws (4) $0.08 $0.00 $0.09 $0.17

Gear Box $1.83 $0.00 $0.25 $2.08

Column Totals $9.29 $0.35 $1.21 $10.85

Overhead Charges $0.25 $3.40 $0.30 $3.95

Total Cost $14.80

Discussion of Costs.

Currently, our product will be sold as a basic unit with a wind-turbine as the primary method of

producing charge with various other means being available to the consumer as optional add-ons (See

DFX section for further details). When compared to the previous iteration of our design, which

contained a wind-turbine, hand-pump, and battery functionality by default, the overall cost of this

product will be reduced for both us and our customers. Certainly, it is evident that stripping our basic

product of the hand-pump and battery functionality will significantly reduce the cost. Moreover, we

have very importantly avoided incurring unnecessary costs for both ourselves and our customers.

Originally, when we had three methods of charge generation, any time a consumer did not want all

three we would be incurring extraneous production costs that both we and the customer would have to

shoulder.

For our basic unit, the most expensive components are the turbine, dynamo, and gear-box comprising

nearly 60% of the total overall cost. As such, we foresee a large potential to cut costs by focusing on

these three areas. Currently, the prices for the turbine, dynamo, and gear-box are found by looking at

online retailers and taking some percentage of those numbers (~50%) as a very rough estimate of the

cost to purchase it directly not for retail. Moreover, in the future, the cost could be significantly reduced

if we produce these components ourselves, and do not purchase them from 3rd

party suppliers. Other

factors that will reduce the cost include making large purchases in bulk and using exact specifications

for our estimate.

Business Plan

Initially, we will need to procure funding in order to cover operational costs such as labor and parts

with the expectation that eventually enough revenue will be generated to make our company financially

self-sustaining. Funding for our product can be obtained from a variety of sources, but we will focus

primarily on venture capitals. There is large potential market for a mobile cell-phone charger due to

India‟s astounding number of cell phone users compounded with its persistent energy problems.

Consequentially, our product could be quite profitable and thus has appeal to venture capitals, which

focus on early-stage companies with high revenue potential. The seed money from a venture capital

would be used to financially support our company through the early development stages. Another

possible source of funding is from cell-phone manufacturers in India. They could provide seed money

for our company in return for our chargers being compatible with only their cell-phone models, as the

increased reliability bestowed by our charger would be advantageous in a market that has become

increasingly dependent on the cell-phone as a primary means of communication. From either or a

combination of these sources, we should be able to receive the funds necessary for early development.

In the fledgling stages of our company, we envision a minimal amount of customer awareness for our

product. As such, the most important aspect of development in the early going will be to carve out a

niche in the market and establish a loyal customer base with our target market of commuting

professionals. A large amount of our initial resources will be devoted towards production of the mobile

phone charger and the costs that production will incur. These costs will likely account for the bulk of

our resources due to several factors such as the purchasing of materials in smaller quantities which

leads to more expenses overall, less revenue generated due to less products sold, and initial overhead

costs from one time purchases. Another portion of our funding will be devoted to marketing and sales

of our product. It is no use having a good product that no one is aware of. We will need to spend time

and money to get our product out into the market and to convince people to purchase it. This may be

accomplished through advertisements, partnerships with cell-phone vendors and manufacturers, or other

means. We feel that these two aspects of initial production and marketing will be the critical aspects we

will focus on during the early stages of our company.

As with any product-based company, we hope to derive our profits from the sale of each charger, as

well as from the sale of replacement parts and additional charging components that our customers

would purchase based on their specific needs. We plan to sell the central charging module at a market

price of less than twice the manufacturing cost, which is a much smaller profit margin than typical for

related electronic devices. However, the replacement parts and add-on charging functionalities will be

sold at a much higher price than the cost of manufacture, particularly because these components are

comparatively basic and will have a low production cost. With this strategy we hope to first saturate

the market and attract the maximal amount of customers with our low-priced basic charging unit. As

customers become reliant on the charger, they will be willing to pay the prices necessary to replace any

broken components, the purchase of which provide a large net income for our company. Likewise,

those pleased with the basic charger‟s performance and looking to extend its standards of enabling

reliable communication to additional circumstances would be willing to pay for the add-on components

(such as an attachable foot-powered pump or solar cell). Thus, with this strategy we ensure our product

receives a large share of the market for mobile cell-phone chargers, with much of our net income being

generated from the purchase of add-on and replacement parts.

Year 1 Business Projections

Expenditure Cost (Yearly) Cost Type

Machinery (One Time) $77,000.00 Fixed

Factory Space $10,800.00 Fixed

Utilities $1,200.00 Fixed

Machinery Maintenance $1,200.00 Fixed

Materials (10000 Units) $148,000.00 Variable

Labor $8,040.00 Variable

Management $3,000.00 Variable

Total $249,240.00

Units Sold Gross Revenue Net Income

10000 $250,000 $760.00

In calculating labor costs, we assumed each employee produces 1 device per hour and works 8 hours

per day. Extending this for 11 months (to account for the month of allotted sick and holiday leave) we

see that a single employee could produce 2640 of the basic charging units over the course of a year.

However, we have conservatively assumed an output of only 2000 devices per employee to account for

any machine failure and faulty device production that could occur while making the charger.

Additionally we allot 200 units from the discounted 640 units of potential production to the

manufacture of the add-ons and replacements. Since these parts are far simpler, we assume about 5 can

be made in the place of a single basic unit so that each employee can produce 1000 replacement

products and add-ons in addition to the 2000 basic units per year. This should be a sufficient number of

add-ons and replacement parts for the first year (particularly because there will be a low demand for

replacement parts when our product is initially introduced). However, in subsequent years 1 out of

every 5 employees will be devoted to making only add-ons and replacements so that for every 10,000

basic units produced, a total of 15,000 add-on and replacement parts will be constructed, which will net

an average $40,000 of additional profit.

Year 2 Business Projections (Excluding Add-Ons)

Expenditure Cost (Yearly) Cost Type

Machinery (One Time) $0.00 Fixed

Factory Space $10,800.00 Fixed

Utilities $1,200.00 Fixed

Machinery Maintenance $1,200.00 Fixed

Materials (20000 Units) $296,000.00 Variable

Labor $16,080.00 Variable

Management $6,000.00 Variable

Total $331,280.00

Units Sold Gross Revenue Net Income

20000 $500,000 $168,720.00

Add-On and Replacement Parts

After we have reached our target market of commuting professionals, we believe that our product will

have a good footing in the mobile-phone market in Kerala. From here, our next goal will be to reach a

secondary market such as students to further increase the prevalence of our product. Following this, we

will devote our energy and resources to promoting growth of our product by branching out to various

other demographics and geographies. While initially our product may only be sold in Kerala, we hope

to spread out not only to India, but also the rest of the world since mobile-phone use has become an

integrated facet of life in all corners of the globe. Likewise, we will initially target commuting

professionals and students, but as consumer interest grows we hope to grow along with it. Hence, our

product will likely evolve and change with time. One such change we mentioned earlier might be the

integration of a medium through which the charger may plug directly into the wall. Such a feature

would allow our product to completely replace normal phone chargers and increase utility for a much

larger demographic. Furthermore, as we reach different customers who will undoubtedly have different

needs, we will try to tailor our product to fit their specific needs. In these ways we hope to prevent

against stunted development and expand to reach customers around the globe.

Ethical Plan

Accharge will strive to maintain the highest possible ethical standards. Our foremost concern is for

worker safety and contentment. Workers will be rigorously trained for proper use of any machinery

they will encounter during the manufacturing process and will be fully informed of the dangers of this

machinery. Accident avoidance will comprise a large component of the requisite training that the

workers must undergo before being allowed to begin work at Accharge. Furthermore, we pledge for

transparency in the manufacturing process to the extent that every worker will be informed of all

chemicals, in trace quantities or otherwise, that they might encounter in the factory and of any dangers

Additional Parts Price Cost Net Profit Type

Turbine Blades $1.50 $0.10 $1.40 Replacement

Turbine $6.00 $2.55 $3.45 Replacement

Output Cord $2.00 $0.70 $1.30 Replacement

Dynamo $6.00 $2.00 $4.00 Replacement

Hand Crank $3.00 $0.50 $2.50 Add-On

AA Battery Charger $5.00 $1.25 $3.75 Add-On

Outlet Connector $3.00 $0.50 $2.50 Add-On

to their health that these chemicals may impose. Additionally, workers will be paid enough to

comfortably cover their cost of living. We plan to pay around 200 INR for one day (eight hours) of

work with 2 weeks of paid sick leave and an additional 2 weeks of paid holiday. This would amount to

an annual income of 52000 INR, over twice the median Keralan income.7 In this way we can ensure

worker safety and contentment both inside and outside of the factory.

We will extend this philosophy of thorough safety beyond manufacturing to the marketplace itself. We

have designed Accharge so that however the device is used, regardless of whether or not it is employed

in the intended manner, it will pose no potential harm to the customer. Essentially, we strive to not

violate the core human values of both our workers and customers.

We will also uphold high ethical standards in the marketing of our product. In particular, we will not

selectively charge different customers different prices based on that customer‟s income. Everyone will

be sold the Accharge at a uniform price. Furthermore, we will not bribe any government officials or

vendors to gain an unfair advantage over the market and drive out competitors. Such bribes should not

be necessary in any case as we are offering the first product of its kind in Kerala and so there are no

similar products that we will have to contend with. We want Accharge to be dominant in the market by

winning the trust and satisfaction of customers rather than through the implementation of unfair

business practices.

Challenges

Due to the complex nature of our product, prototyping and testing have posed the largest challenges for

our group. As such, we have been challenged to answer some of the questions that a prototype normally

is able to answer by other means. For instance, one aspect of our charger that has consistently been a

question mark throughout the process is the feasibility of the various methods of charge generation we

have proposed. Several times throughout the course of the term, doubts have been raised by our peers

and advisers about whether or not a hand-pump, wind turbine, or hand-crank would actually generation

a reasonable electric charge. Frankly, our team members have often shared those sentiments as well.

While we would have loved to have been able to quickly prototype something like a hand-pump that

had the ability to charge a cell-phone, we realized the impracticality and difficulty of such an idea given

our time constraints. Instead, we have conducted numerous preliminary tests and calculations that have

helped us clarify some of these questionable aspects, as well as investigating existing products that

could demonstrate proof of concept. For example, in order to gain insight into the aforementioned issue

of whether or not a wind-turbine would provide an adequate electric supply to power a cell-phone, we

conducted a test using a mock-up of a wind turbine that was constructed by connecting the CPU cooling

fan of a computer to a small DC motor. We also calculated the estimated power that could be generated

by a wind-turbine experiencing winds typical of public transportation using the wind power equation.

These tests assisted us in concluding that the wind-turbine was, in principle, a feasible idea. For further

details, please see the product development section. However, even when making these preliminary

testing prototypes, finding the proper materials has been difficult. For instance, we had difficulty

finding adequate sized dynamos that could generate a power comparable to that which we might expect

to use in our final device.

Another significant challenge was keeping up with the rapid pace of the class. In the span of what

seemed like only the blink of an eye, we were going from just fleshing out the ideas of our product to

estimating the exact components needed to manufacture it. As such, simply completing the homework

assignments and discussing the direction of our product each week has been time-consuming, given the

other work and exams that all members of our team had in both Kerala and California. Due to this fact,

finding additional time to deal with the other equally important aspects of our product such as testing,

prototyping, and research has proved to be difficult. In order to overcome this challenge, we have stuck

to strict self-imposed deadlines that have allowed us to manage our time well. Also, we have divided up

the workload to allow our members to play to their strengths in order to maximize our efficiency.

Future Plans

If we were to continue our project, our primary goal would be to produce a working prototype of our

product. Testing this prototype would allow us to gain additional insight into our product and allow us

to realize things that we are unable to see without having a working model. Since our prototyping has

been slower than we originally anticipated, we would likely still follow our current plan of first working

to develop a lab prototype that demonstrates the functionality of our product. Due to the fact that the

wind-turbine will comprise the basic functionality of our device, we will focus our prototyping efforts

towards first developing a lab prototype that uses a wind-turbine to charge a cell-phone. Following the

production of a lab prototype implementing a wind-turbine charging method, we will develop a

working prototype of this method. Once this is accomplished, we will have succeeded in producing a

working prototype for our basic product that we will be able to use for testing as well as for product

demonstrations. Our next step would be to repeat the same process of fabricating a lab prototype

followed by a working prototype for the primary add-ons we plan to sell with our basic unit. These

include an AA-battery extension, hand-pump extension, hand-crank extension, wall-outlet extension

and others.

Once we have prototypes in our hands, our efforts will shift to the business side of the process. The first

step will be to meet with venture capitalists and other potential people who will provide critical initial

funding needed to get our product into the market. Armed with working prototypes, we will be able to

demonstrate our progress and effort thus far, as well as allow potential investors to witness the potential

of our product first hand. After we have generated enough initial funding, the next step will be to create

a final model of our product that is ready to be sold in the market. From here, we will spend time setting

up the manufacturing process and begin producing the charger so it may be sold on the market. When a

few units have been produced we will rigorously test them for defects as well as provide them to a few

naïve users who may provide real world testing for us. Once we are confident in our manufacturing

process and the quality of our product, we will begin manufacturing on a large scale, preparing to push

our product into the market. Concurrently, we will begin advertising to our target market of commuting

professionals in Kerala in order to generate excitement and interest in our product. With these

preparations in place, we will have hopefully introduced an innovative new product to the people of

Kerala that will improve their daily lives.

References:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_in_India

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_blackout

3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerala_State_Electricity_Board

4. http://prosperingindianpowersector.blogspot.com/2010/05/peak-deficit-energy-shortage-zoom-

in.html

5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velcro

6. http://www.kerala.gov.in/dept_planning/er/chapter3.pdf