Much of the world lives for much of the time without electricity. This means, for example, that they do not have the power to refrigerate food, preserve medicines, or light surgeries. It means that they cannot run a computer or a cell phone. It also means the near absence of many of the elements of commerce that we take for granted in the developed world, such as credit card readers, or electronic banking. This leaves much of the world disconnected from the rest of the globe, and handicapped in terms of engaging in banking or business above the most basic level. The developing world depends heavily on fossil fuels. This requires them to buy these fuels from oil producers. This requires money. If the less-advantaged nation cannot pay immediately, this places them in debt. The problem of debt is as much to be avoided in a nation as in a household. Thus, the innovations described in the two articles from The Economist offer the promise of freeing the developing world to grow economically and improve the lives of their inhabitants.
As one solution, a potential new material for solar cells could extend the reach of solar energy. As described in The Economist’s article, entitled “Cell a million?” perovskite could slash the wattage production cost by 75%. Such a cost reduction would make solar energy a far more accessible technology. The current cost of solar cells is so high that few people cannot afford this investment without government subsidy. This limits the spread of solar energy implementation, and thus restricts the capacity to start businesses or expand them.
Simple matters such as lighting a shop or a food stall become insuperable barriers. Something more energy-hungry, like refrigeration, can be out of reach. This can keep businesses very small, local, and very vulnerable to disruption. Lower investment cost would allow solar technology to serve more areas without universal electrical power infrastructure. This, in turn, will allow nations that have been in the dark, literally, to catch up with more developed nations. When people of vision implement their entrepreneurial ideas to create wealth, discretionary funds become available for spending in the international marketplace, which can benefit other nations and communities as well (The Economist Staff).
In another article in The Economist, titled “In Small Doses,” innovations in selling and servicing solar energy systems promise to make them more available to electrically underserved regions. These approaches include spreading out equipment payments over as much as a year and building ineffective methods of monitoring them. For example, a buyer may pay 50 cents daily to run all their small electrical equipment. This lowers an entrepreneur’s barriers to entry into business. In another adaptive approach, one company has innovated remote diagnosis of malfunctions. This helps to keep the equipment in operation.
In areas where complex technology is not in common use, the article notes, sometimes people will discard any complicated piece of equipment that no longer works. This may arise from a lack of access to repair services. By keeping equipment reliably operational, businesses can remain as going concerns, thus providing an attractive model for others to sign on and become solar users as well. This, like reducing the underlying cost of the apparatus, can stimulate entrepreneurial activity that will increase the wealth accruing to individuals and businesses, and thus, the nation as a whole (The Economist Staff).
Anything that increases productive business activity can increase the overall wealth of the nation by generating personal and corporate income. Solar energy is a vital piece of the energy picture for the whole world but especially the developing world. Increasing solar energy access, as the innovations described in these two articles may do, will help launch the less developed world into an economically improved future.
Works Cited
The Economist Staff. “Cell a Million.”The Economist. 2013. Web.
—. “In Small Doses.”The Economist. 2013. Web.