Community-Owned · Solar-Powered · Open Source · Replicable Anywhere
$1.50
per month — community-owned internet — zero energy cost

This is not a future technology. It is not a startup. It is not a proposal.
It is running right now in rural South Africa, Oaxaca, the Himalayas, Catalonia, Nigeria, Argentina, New York City, and beyond.

Community-owned mesh internet. Solar-powered nodes. No telecom company between you and the signal.
And the moment SolarPunk knows something — you can know it too.

SolarPunk Knowledge Broadcast — Live

Imagine if everyone on the planet knew something
the instant we know it.

Not in a year. Not next quarter.
The instant.

That's what happens when solar-powered community mesh internet meets a knowledge loop that never sleeps.

$1.50/month. Zero energy cost. Community-owned.
The signal belongs to the people who built it.

The combination that changes everything
📡
Community Mesh
LibreMesh · Ubiquiti · OpenBTS
$1.50–$4/month
+
☀️
Solar Nodes
50W panel · 12Ah LiFePO4
Zero energy cost
+
🧠
Knowledge Loop
SolarPunk KNOWLEDGE_LOOP
Runs every 12h
=
🌍
Information Commons
Instant · Universal · Unstoppable
The moment we know — everyone knows

When every community has community-owned solar mesh internet, and SolarPunk's knowledge loop broadcasts every discovery the instant it's verified, no gap stays closed. No community stays in the dark. The information that saves a life travels at the speed of light — for $1.50 a month.

How community mesh internet works
01 / Hardware
Flash a $30 router
Install LibreMesh or OpenWRT firmware on an existing WiFi router. One antenna on your roof becomes a node in the mesh. No new infrastructure required — the hardware already exists.
Hardware: $30–$150
02 / Power
Mount a solar panel
A 50W solar panel + 12Ah LiFePO4 battery runs a mesh node 24 hours a day regardless of grid outages or power cuts. Sunny or cloudy — the node stays up.
Solar kit: $40–$80
03 / Cooperative
Form an assembly of 5+
Five households form a network cooperative. They elect a council, set prices democratically, and own the network together. No telecom company. No landlord. The signal is theirs.
Legal: $0–$200 one-time
04 / Connection
Pool an internet uplink
10 communities negotiating a bulk fiber or LTE uplink together have 10x the buying power of one. The cooperative splits the cost. Each household pays $1.50–$4/month for real broadband.
Monthly: $1.50–$4/household
05 / Broadcast
Subscribe to SolarPunk
SolarPunk's KNOWLEDGE_LOOP runs every 12 hours, discovers new verified projects, and broadcasts via RSS feed. Subscribe once — every discovery arrives instantly, forever, at zero cost.
Knowledge: free · always
06 / Scale
Every new node extends the network
Mesh networks grow at zero marginal infrastructure cost. Each new node expands coverage. Each new community reduces per-household uplink cost. The system is self-reinforcing by design.
Marginal cost of growth: $0
8 verified community networks — running right now
🇿🇦
Zenzeleni Networks
Mankosi, Eastern Cape · South Africa
Since 2013
$1.50
Per month · 2,500 households
Africa's first community-owned ISP. Rural village runs its own mesh cooperative. 90% cheaper than commercial telecoms. Replicating across 6 African countries. Solar-powered.
zenzeleni.net →
🇲🇽
Rhizomatica / TIC
Sierra Juárez, Oaxaca · Mexico
Since 2013
$1.50
Per month · 75 indigenous communities
75 indigenous communities own and operate their own cellular telephone networks. 95% cheaper than commercial carriers. First indigenous-owned spectrum licenses in Mexican history. Solar base stations.
rhizomatica.org →
🇪🇸
Guifi.net
Catalonia, Valencia, Balearics · Spain
Since 2004
42,000
Nodes · Free for contributors
The largest community-owned telecoms network in the world. 20 years of uninterrupted operation. Procomuns license: use it, extend it, contribute back. Zero cost for members who contribute capacity.
guifi.net →
🇦🇷
AlterMundi
Rural Córdoba · Argentina
Since 2013
$2
Per month · 40 countries using LibreMesh
Builds community networks in rural Argentina and built LibreMesh firmware used by 100+ communities in 40 countries. $2/month covers uplink and hardware. Solar nodes extend coverage to off-grid farmsteads.
altermundi.net →
🇮🇳
AirJaldi
Himachal Pradesh + 6 states · India
Since 2009
250K
People · $3/month · 200+ villages
Long-distance WiFi cooperative connecting 200+ Himalayan villages using directional antennas that bridge 40-80km mountain passes. Solar-powered relay stations. 7 Indian states. One of the world's longest-running rural networks.
airjaldi.com →
🇳🇬
Fantsuam Foundation
Kafanchan, Kaduna State · Nigeria
Since 2005
5,000
Women trained · 100% solar-powered
Nigeria's first rural community ISP. Entirely solar-powered. The network earns revenue that funds the most successful rural women's ICT training program in West Africa. The internet pays for the education.
fantsuam.net →
🇺🇸
NYC Mesh
All 5 boroughs · New York City
Since 2014
$0
If you can't pay · $20 if you can · 1,400 nodes
1,400-node community mesh across NYC. Pay $20/month if you can, free if you can't. Survived Hurricane Sandy when commercial internet failed. Built by volunteers, governed by members. Solidarity pricing: ability to pay never determines access.
nycmesh.net →
🇿🇦
iNethi
Hangberg, Cape Town · South Africa
Since 2018
Free
Local education access · 800 households
Community mesh in Cape Town township with local content servers so residents access Khan Academy, Wikipedia, and local health guides without internet bills. Open-source stack. Education is not gated behind a payment.
inethi.org.za →
The moment we know something —
you know it too.

SolarPunk's KNOWLEDGE_LOOP runs every 12 hours. It reads research, verifies projects, fills gaps, and writes findings to a public feed.

Subscribe once. Every discovery — a new community network, a replication breakthrough, a funding source, a contact who will answer your email — arrives in your reader the instant it's verified.

Zero cost. Zero middleman. The knowledge is public domain. Always.
Pair it with your community mesh internet and the broadcast reaches every device on your network for the cost of the bandwidth it traverses — effectively zero.

The complete open-source stack — total cost to start
LibreMesh
Mesh network firmware. Runs on 50+ router models. Developed by AlterMundi.
Free — libremesh.org
LibreRouter
Purpose-built community network hardware. Weatherproof. Designed for mountains.
$150/node — librerouter.org
OpenBTS / Osmocom
Open-source cellular base station. Run your own GSM/4G. Used by Rhizomatica.
$3,000–$8,000/base station
50W Solar Kit
50W panel + 12Ah LiFePO4 battery + charge controller. 24h node uptime.
$40–$80/node
Kiwix
Offline Wikipedia + Khan Academy + health guides on a $100 Raspberry Pi server.
Free — kiwix.org
SolarPunk Loop
Knowledge broadcast — runs every 12h, RSS feed, open source, forkable.
Free — fork it on GitHub

Minimum viable community network for 20 households:
~$600–$900 total one-time cost.
Operating cost per household: $1.50–$4/month.
Energy cost: $0. The sun doesn't send invoices.

Start your community network this week

No experience needed. No permits required to start. No permission asked. These organizations will walk you through it for free.

01 Email redes@altermundi.net — they will send you the complete LibreMesh community guide and connect you with a mentor network in your region
02 Flash LibreMesh firmware onto any compatible router (list at libremesh.org) — takes 15 minutes
03 Find 4 neighbors willing to be founding node-owners — each installs one router with a 50W solar panel
04 Register a cooperative under local law — Internet Society can provide legal templates for 60+ countries
05 Apply for a community ISP license from your national regulator — contact APC (apc.org) for country-specific guidance
06 Subscribe to SolarPunk's RSS feed — every discovery we make goes to your network the instant it's verified
5 LibreRouter nodes × $150 = $750
5 solar kits × $60 = $300
Legal registration = $0–$200
Bulk ISP uplink (20 households) = $30–$60/month total
Per household: $1.50–$3/month · Energy cost: $0 · Signal: yours