“It used to be dark at night, now it’s bright until morning,” the 30-year old mother of two said, carefully arranging and pushing red threads at the loom. But when a neighbor got electric lighting shortly after, she realized she could continue weaving clothes for the market late into the evening. When her husband died of a stroke in December 2022, Jawa wasn’t sure how she would pay for her children’s schooling. That's changed since grassroots social enterprise projects have brought small, individual solar panel systems to Laindeha and villages like it across the island.įor Jawa, it means much-needed extra income. Children sometimes studied by makeshift oil lamps, but these occasionally burned down homes when knocked over by the wind. Some people wired lightbulbs to old car batteries, which would quickly die or burn out appliances, as they had no regulator. Villagers in Laindeha, on the island of Sumba in eastern Indonesia, would set aside the mats they were weaving or coffee they were sorting to sell at the market as the light faded.Ī few families who could afford them would start noisy generators that rumbled into the night, emitting plumes of smoke. In some of the world's most remote places, off-grid solar systems are bringing villagers like Jawa more hours in the day, more money and more social gatherings.īefore electricity came to the village a bit less than two years ago, the day ended when the sun went down. It was just one bulb powered by a small solar panel, but in this remote village that means a lot. ![]() LAINDEHA – As Tamar Ana Jawa wove a red sarong in the fading sunlight, her neighbor switched on a light bulb dangling from the sloping tin roof.
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