Now the nation's Northeast is discovering also that solar makes sense, even though its cluster of urban and semi-rural states records days without sunshine several times higher than those of the more salubrious South and West. Logically, tropical lands with abundant sunshine should be a natural for alternative energy systems. In fact, old ways die hard and not many third world governments are up to speed in this area. So, in many developing countries it's customary still for women to trudge miles in search of pitiful amounts of firewood sufficient for family needs, mainly food preparation. Lighting in an unelectrified village is primitive, dim or nonexistent.
Cost is an obstacle to the lavish spread of photovoltaic arrays for solving rural energy problems.
With so many gifts to give, no wonder the ancients considered the sun a god. In the US, The New York Times reported recently, shipments of photovoltaic equipment have doubled in the last three years thanks to solar-friendly laws enacted in 30 states, including at least three in the gloomy Northeast that empower users to sell their surplus production to local electricity companies. During the recent election campaign, both Gov. George W. Bush, who is an oil man, and Vice President Al Gore, an acclaimed environmentalist, both appeared to favor some kind of renewable energy incentive. Most poor countries are incapable, of course, of even thinking of handing out that sort of largesse, but FAO cites other models, including private sector action. As in Kenya, which has some 70,000 solar home systems in place.