New Delhi, May 8 -- In sunny Zambia, fewer than 6 per cent of rural people have access to electricity, leaving over 94 per cent in darkness.

Zambia could tap into solar power to light up its rural areas, but this potential has yet to be exploited. So far, only 3.23 per cent of its installed electricity generation capacity is solar based. Even this is mainly used for basic energy services such as lighting and cellphone charging. This means that rural Zambians still have no clean source of energy for cooking, running big appliances or heating water.

There would be huge costs in connecting dispersed and isolated rural settlements to the electricity grid. Solar power could be a solution but because of poverty and unemployment, individual r...