India's rural poor give up on power grid, go solar

NADA, India -- Boommi Gowda used to fear the night. Her vision fogged by glaucoma, she could not see by just the dim glow of a kerosene lamp, so she avoided going outside where king cobras slithered freely and tigers carried off neighborhood dogs. But things have changed at Gowda's home in the remote southern village of Nada. A solar-powered lamp pours white light across the front of the mud-walled hut she shares with her three grown children, a puppy and a newborn calf. Now she can now cook, tend to her livestock and get water from a nearby well at night. "I can see!" Gowda said, giggling through a 100-watt smile. In her 70 years, this is...

The News & Observer

http://article.wn.com/view/2011/07/03/Indias_rural_poor_give_up_on_power_grid_go_solar_d/