Green Energy for a Billion Poor

"The Grameen Way of Doing Business
Hundreds of excited people crowded the village schoolyard. Students had stacked a few benches on top of each other for a make-shift platform. As the young engineer climbed onto the shaky stage, the crowd quieted in anticipation. The engineer held a small battery-operated radio in his hand. He raised it over his head. The crowd could hear music being played from a local radio station. Then he removed the battery, showed it to the crowd, and hooked the radio to a half-watt solar panel. The music played on the radio without the battery. The amazed crowd shouted "Jadukor! You must be a magician."
The young engineer laughed and explained that the solar panel was not magic, but simply making use of something Bangladesh has plenty of-sunlight. "The energy comes from the sun," he told the astonished students, "something which has fascinated scientists for hundreds of years. A century ago, a young French physicist discovered the solar cell. Scientists later experimented with generating solar electricity to provide power aboard a spacecraft. During the oil crisis in the 1970s the President of the United States had solar panels installed on the roof of the White House. People use solar power to run pocket calculators in Japan. And now, after so many years have passed, solar technology is here-in your village."What seemed like magic to the people on that village field was nothing more than the solar power generated by a tiny half-watt panel. Far more incredible would be the ripple effect this was to cause in the community in the years to come. No one listening to that solar-powered radio had anything better at home than candles and kerosene lanterns for light and batteries to power radios and televisions. More than a hundred million people in rural Bangladesh had no access to the electric grid and little chance of getting it in future. The grid expanded so slowly to remote villages that most young people would not enjoy the benefit of

From the contents:
Preface, Acknowledgements, Foreword
PART 1-the Days of the Pioneers
1 Bootstrapping in the Hinterland
2 Developing the DNA of a Social Business
3 Becoming the Little Company That Could
PART 2-the Art of Rural Business
4 Planting the Seeds of Success in the Field
5 Keeping the Engine Running
6 Working on the Cutting Edge of Business
PART 3-Much Lies Ahead
6 Change Reaches the Village
7 A Quantum Leap in Social Business
Appendix

Nancy Wimmer is an entrepreneur, researcher, and advisor to the World Council of Renewable Energy. She specializes in microfinance and rural electrification in developing countries. She has been involved with Grameen Bank since 1990 and with Grameen Shakti since its inception in 1996. Her career has many facets. Her political campaigns have targeted the German Government, the European Commission, the World Bank, and the United Nations. Her practical work has led her to the rural parts of Bangladesh, Egypt, El Salvador, India, Honduras, Nepal and Peru. She has lectured and published extensively and has advised investors and entrepreneurs. Nancy, an American citizen, studied law and political science, holds a Masters of Philosophy, and lives with her family near Munich.