STILL SEEKING SUN’S PROMISE

The Johnny Appleseed of solar power; Meet Neville Williams, a Maryland man who says he has an easier time installing solar in Africa and Asia than he does in the United States
Robynne Boyd, June 16, 2009 (Mother Nature Network)

"This is a tale about a modest man, a flaming ball of plasma and a quest. The man is Neville Williams, the ball of gas is the sun, and the quest was bringing light and power to people in the developing world.

"… It was 1979, and after churning out stories as a war correspondent in Vietnam…Williams turned his energies toward energy. He had just been hired as a consultant for the freshly minted U.S. Department of Energy, and it was there he learned about an adolescent technology that would grip his imagination for the next 25 years — solar power…President Jimmy Carter was pushing solar in light of soaring oil prices and the 1973 Arab oil embargo…[and] installed solar panels on the roof of the White House West Wing…But at $90 per watt — compared with coal at only a few cents per watt — there was little interest…"

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"Twelve years later, after serving as Greenpeace's national media director during a time when the organization began blowing the whistle on climate change…Williams was on a vacation in Zimbabwe [when he got the idea]…

"Williams' plan was radical in its simplicity. He used money donated to his nonprofit organization, the Solar Electric Light Fund, to install solar panels in rural villages. Over time, the families would pay back the cost of the panels along with a small amount of interest to create a sense of ownership and responsibility. Then Williams would move on to the next village."

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"…Williams has [installed more than 100,000 solar electric systems in developing countries like India, Africa, Sri Lanka and Vietnam and] created two more companies: the Solar Electric Light Company, which provides solar energy in India, and Standard Solar, a U.S.-based company that installs residential solar systems in Washington, D.C., and Virginia…

"…[I]n the not-so-distant future solar electricity will cost the same as conventional electricity production. And if the predictions are correct, about 20 percent of U.S. households will have solar panels in the next 20 to 25 years…Williams' own home runs off of 100-percent wind energy since it lacks enough sunlight, a fact that he believes demonstrates the need for renewable energy to be tailored to its specific environment. Still, he believes that today is solar's day in the sun. And like in his quest to help bring light and power to people in the developing world, Williams will probably be indefatigable in ushering in solar energy into the States, 'one roof at a time.'"