Project takes electricity off the grid

Lighting the Hopes of the Gridless

Selco: A rural family in southern India with a solar-powered light fixture.

July 15, 2011 - From Lenin to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 20th-century political leaders made the provision of universal electricity a centerpiece of their programs and oratory. “Communism is Soviet power plus the electrification of the whole country,” one slogan went. Or, in the case of F.D.R.’s Tennessee Valley Authority, “T.V.A.: Electricity For All.”

In this century, the United Nations has updated the concept in addressing the problem that 1.4 billion people in the world are living without electricity. The new buzz phrase is “Sustainable Energy For All,” but the approach is very different, because in many cases these people cannot be connected to a grid. Given that the vast majority of the unconnected live near the equator, where the sun is at its zenith, the solutions being tried are almost all based on solar power.

One of the chief proselytizers is Richenda Van Leeuwen, who oversees the energy-access efforts of the United Nations Foundation, a philanthropic organization that works to support many of the United Nations’ humanitarian efforts. read more>>>