New York Times Article - Impact Of Small Scale Solar

Here is an interesting article on the impacts of small scale solar electricity systems in rural Kenya. These systems are very, very similar to ones we have tried in Sierra Leone and we have seen many of the same results. The situation is a bit trickier here in that the rural population tends to have less and more seasonal income than Kenya but there are other less expensive, two light systems that fill that gap. One of the very insightful things from the article is that the system was bought primarily to charge the household mobile phone and lighting was secondary! Once again we have seen similar things here and are trying to utilise that as a way to spur small scale businesses in these communities, while also highlighting the costs savings, compared to kerosene, candles, and battery based lighting that these systems offer. Without any overstatement, these systems really are kicking off a revolution in how rural lighting and power can be provided!

http://mobile.nytimes.com/article?a=719675&f=110