Cheap solar rewires South Africa

A concentration of solar panels on rooftops of private homes in the suburb of Camps Bay in Cape Town, South Africa. Chinese panels are now so affordable that businesses and families are snapping them up, slashing their bills and challenging utilities. — Gulshan Khan/The New York Times

ISMET Booley, a dentist in Cape Town, had a serious problem a few years ago. Patients arrived for appointments, only to find the power had gone out.

No electricity meant no X-rays, no fillings, no root canals.