An extra few hours of light a day, to read or get work done, can make a huge difference for a ton of people in the world. And the dream is being able to switch from expensive, toxic chemicals, to something like solar.
In West Africa, where three-quarters of the population lives without electricity, households spend as much as 20 percent of their budget on kerosene, a combustible fuel burned for lighting. Not only is kerosene expensive (the UN estimates the global population spends $23 billion each year on the stuff), it also poses serious risks: fires, burns, and pulmonary disease. The World Health Organization says that 4.3 million people die each year as a result of household air pollution created through the burning of solid fuels.