Less than 20% of rural households have access to grid-quality electricity services. Almost all people in rural areas use firewood for cooking, kerosene for lighting, and lead-acid rechargable batteries for household appliances. Energy use is inefficient, inconvenient, costly and environmentally unsustainable.
Residential energy demand in rural Cambodia
![The Battery Charging Hut The Battery Charging Hut](http://img1.goingslowly.com/photos/normal/5153724324.jpg)
Most of the Cambodians living in the countryside are using car batteries for covering their basic electrification needs at home. A car battery provides them with enough energy to switch on a couple of lamps and a small TV for a limited time period each day.
Every 1 to 3 days they have to bring their empty batteries to their local battery charging station (BCS) to recharge for a small fee. The vast majority of those stations use diesel generators to charge the batteries of the nearby houses.
Delft University of Technology: Solar Battery Charging Stations in Cambodia
![Home Built Diesel Generator Home Built Diesel Generator](http://img0.goingslowly.com/photos/normal/5153114097.jpg)