Solar-Powered Electricity for Remote Areas

Fighting Against Darkness
A group of women in East Nusa Tenggara distribute solar lamps to remote villages. These environmentally friendly lamps have also become ubiquitous in urban areas.

Dozens of dogs howled time and again, as if welcoming the night that fell on Nubahaeraka Village, Lembata Regency on a Sunday in August. Darkness then enveloped the whole island that is famous worldwide because of the whale hunts that take place here each year. Lembata is one of the islands that comprise East Nusa Tenggara.

Lighting is something rare at Nubahaeraka. Lamps were only spotted at some corners of the village with a population of 288 people. For example, the house of the former village headmanwho held the post for 18 yearswas brightly lit thanks to a diesel generator. A diesel oil-powered generator roared at the house of another villager who distributed the power to 20 other houses in the neighborhood. Of course, it was not free. The rest of the village remained dark.

Wide use of electricity seems nowhere near the village located around 1,000 meters above sea level. In the 1960s, when their brothers and sisters in Java were using electric irons, residents of this village had just switched from torches to oil lamps. The antiquated illuminator has prevailed since then.