How solar energy is finally changing lives in rural African villages The NASA satellite map of the world at night shows blazing networks of light across North America and Europe. But Africa remains the dark continent. Despite the United Nations' Millennium Development Goal of universal access to electricity by 2030, half of Africans are without power, most living in remote villages that are unlikely to be connected to the grid in the foreseeable future. But now, thanks to falling prices for solar panels and increasing efficiency of LED lights and small appliances, rural Africans are obtaining electricity off the grid. Off-grid electricity typically means a stand-alone solar home system or a microgrid (generally up to 100 kilowatts) built in the center of a community with distribution lines radiating out to houses, hospitals and stores. Microgrids are usually solar-powered, but are sometimes also fueled with diesel, micro-hydropower, wind or biomass. They often store electricity in batteries for later use. Access to clean electricity improves people's health and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. That's because people without electricity, including the 600 million in Africa, typically use kerosene lanterns and open fires fueled with wood, animal dung or crop waste to light their homes and cook their food. These fuels contribute to asthma, allergies, cataracts, burns and poisonings, killing an estimated 4 million people per year worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. Globally, fuel-based lighting produces the equivalent of 240 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually. M-Kopa, headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, sells an 8-watt system that comes with a solar panel, a control box with a lithium ion battery, two LED lights, a phone charger, a flashlight and a radio. To buy it people must put $35 down and then pay approximately 50 cents a day for a year. Larger systems have fans or… http://bit.ly/2h11g3i
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