Cheap solar is powering Africa’s growth story

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA: Ismet Booley, a dentist in Cape Town, had a serious problem a few years ago. Patients showed up for appointments, only to find the power had gone out. No power meant no X-rays, no fillings, no root canals. “I just couldn’t work,” Booley said.South Africans like Booley have found a remedy for power cuts that have plagued people in the developing world for years. Thanks to swiftly falling prices of Chinese-made solar panels and batteries, they now draw their power from the sun.

These aren’t the old-school lanterns but solar and battery systems that are deployed across a variety of businesses — auto factories and wineries, gold mines and shopping malls.