And then there was light: British Petroleum's Solar Energy for the Poor project has transformed the lives of villagers in one remote Cao Bang commune and is being considered for extension by the government. If given the nod, solar power could soon be helping to light up rural areas across the country. (Insight: an inside view on the stories behind the headlines).

Vietnam Investment Review, March, 2002 by Ngoc Mai

FOR residents of remote Sy Hai commune, in Cao Bang province, it must have seemed as though the hours of the day had been miraculously extended last week when the village was illuminated by electric light for the first time.

The light was generated by great solar shelters.

Like some other poor provinces in Vietnam's mountainous regions, this village 1,000 metres above sea-level had no access to sustainable energy sources.

This meant no electricity for fridges to preserve medicine (especially vaccines), no light for school classes at night or on overcast days, no hot water and pumps to provide clean water.

British energy group British Petroleum (BP) began a Solar Energy for the Poor programme in the province, 310 kilometres north of Hanoi....