Power-starved North Korea turns to solar energy to keep the lights on

illuminem summarizes for you the essential news of the day. Read the full piece on The Financual Times or enjoy below

🗞️ Driving the news: North Korea is increasingly turning to solar power in an effort to address its chronic power shortages and reduce its dependence on imported fossil fuels
• There has been a notable rise in domestic assembly of solar panels, influenced in part by the influx of affordable Chinese imports

🔭 The context: The nation's electricity grid, largely established with Soviet and Chinese assistance during the Cold War era, is now old and unreliable
• As a workaround, many North Koreans have begun installing small solar panels in their homes, providing a source of power that is not dependent on the grid

🌎 Why does it matter for the planet: Embracing solar power can be viewed as a sustainable energy solution that reduces reliance on non-renewable sources
• For North Koreans, it's also a practical solution to an immediate problem: power outages

⏭️ What's next: The North Korean government has recently been promoting the idea of centralized solar energy farms, suggesting that it wants to exercise more control over this growing sector

💬 One quote: "The whole reason people buy these panels is because they cannot trust the state to supply them with the power they need.” (Martyn Williams, Senior Fellow at the Stimson Center)

📈 One stat: According to the Korea Energy Economics Institute in Seoul, approximately 2.88 million solar panels are now in use across North Korea, fulfilling around 7% of household power demand

Click for more news covering the latest on energy