Of the reported 25 lakh homes worldwide that use solar home systems today, about" 3.6 lakh are in India, second only to China which has four lakh solar home system users. The market for solar photo voltaics (PV) continues to find its relevance in such decentralized off-grid applications because despite huge resources made available under the rural electrification schemes of the Ministries of Power and that of the New and Renewable Energy about 7.6 crore rural homes still use kerosene for lighting. Though lighting is not synonymous to electrification, which by no means can be equated with -energisation (that includes energy for cooking, among others), it still is one of the primary amenities required by a household to step on a socio-economic-cultural developmental ladder. This basic amenity is not provided to 56.5 per cent per cent of the 13.8 crore rural homes and 12.4 per cent of Ehly 5.37 crore urban homes in i who continue to burn biomass, candles and kerosene lamps every night, spending Rs 2-5 per day. Apart from the low levels of illumination by these devices, smoke and fire hazards due to accidental pilfering of kerosene and tipping of candles are also quite commonly heard. Solar lantern, a portable lighting device that uses CFL, has its own rechargeable battery inside that can be charged every day using an 8-10 watts solar panel, can be an ideal device to light up homes that currently use biomass or kerosene for lighting. About 5.8 lakh solar lanterns are being disseminated in India in the past 7- 8 years under the programme of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, but its penetration is minuscule considering 7.8 crore rural homes that constitute the potential target segment for this device. As per the National Sample Survey Organisation's survey on energy consumption pattern in the year 2005, and specific information available through TERI's rural energy projects, a rural household consumes an average 4 litres of kerosene per month for lighting. A total of 7.6 crore rural households would thus be consuming an average 3.6 billion litres of kerosene per year. At carbon emission intensity, or a release of 2.4 kg C02 per litre of burnt kerosene, the atmosphere gets polluted by an amount of 9 million tones of C02 annually. In monetary terms, it may well translate itself into US $ 90 million worth carbon market annually at a modest rate of US$ 10 per tonne ofC02. Quite apart from direct carbon revenue benefits, each solar lantern option offers a net annual savings of Rs 1,200 by way of avoided kerosene subsidies estimated at approximately Rs 25 per litre. The nation would hence be spending over Rs 90 billion on subsidy alone for fuelling a device that is of poor quality in production as well as in consumption aspects. If this much amount is instead targeted at solar lanterns, it would lessen the burden on a rural household to switch to a solar lantern. Says RK Pachauri, director general TERI, "The institute has developed several products like solar torches, solar fans, and solar milk churner, biogas plants, which were being used widely in rural areas. Our aim is to enable all rural communities to be self-reliant and develop capabilities for removal of poverty." A solar lantern is a powerful tool to take rural communities from darkness to light. It is also a commitment that would bind governments, corporations, non-governmental sector, civil society and individuals together to lighting up a billion lives not only in India, but across the globe that have no access to modern and clean lighting devices. Courtesy TERI