Solar power makes tiny village beam

GUDDA, India (CNN) — In Gudda, a village with very little, residents are literally beaming. Just two years ago, villagers had never seen light after dark, unless it came from the moon. Then, solar light arrived and changed everything.

“When the lanterns first arrived, the villagers asked, ‘What is this?’ ” says Hanuman Ram, the local solar engineer. “I explained to them how it worked. Then slowly, as people saw it, they said, ‘Wow, what a thing this is!’ “

There are no real roads that lead to the tiny village in the state of Rajasthan in northwestern India, home to about 100 families. There are only thin strips of tar dotted with massive potholes that force vehicles into thick brush. Other times, cars have to maneuver over just dirt.

There is no electricity — power lines don’t extend out here. Water is scarce, too. At the village well, women balance jugs of water on their heads, deftly evading the livestock that saunters along.

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(Full article: http://www.cnn.com)