Top Up Mobile Electricity (TUME) would let people get prepaid electricity

In third world economies, electricity theft is a common nuisance. Both business as well as home users from lower income groups often resorts to peeling cables and hacking public power lines that not only leads to loss of revenue for companies that provide electricity but also leads to loss of life and property. One of the main factors that drive people to steal electricity is not the fact that electricity is far too expensive for the common man to purchase but because in these countries getting an electricity connection and paying the bills is not a simple process. To help people overcome these hassles, Mexican design firm NOS Design Consulting has created the TUME (Top-Up Mobile Electricity) concept.

TUME

The system comprises of two parts called the TUME ACCESS and the TUME BASE. The TUME BASE is the charging base which allows users to plug into electricity supply anywhere they want. These could be installed at dense traffic areas, bus stops and even lamp posts to allow street vendors to acquire electricity safely and legally to run their operations. The TUME ACCESS is the portable device that keeps track of user's credit and usage and lets them connect devices into the TUME BASE to access electricity.

Through the TUME ACCESS, users can top-up their credit and pay for electricity as they use it. The system works just like getting a certain number of usage minutes on a prepaid mobile phone connection. Using the ACCESS, users can legally use electricity wherever they go and they don’t have to resort to theft or illegal and unsafe methods to obtain power.