Something magical is happening with renewable energy in India

When you live without power, "there's so much that you miss out on," Singh said. "As a child, [you're] not able to study at night. Basically your day ends when the sun goes down."

"Economic opportunities are also limited," he said. "Small shopowners have to shut shop. And in many cases, when they're using kerosene after the sun goes down, their business is not as robust as say if they had electricity."

The Indian government has pledged to connect the last household to the electrical grid by 2019.

Source: Bloomberg Business

But expanding the grid can take a long time. This is Singh's ancestral home in the village of Jakhan, where his grandfather applied for grid access in the 1970s. They just got electricity a few years ago.

Courtesy of Kartikeya Singh

Until universal access to the grid becomes a reality, the Indian people are taking power into their own hands — and adopting solar energy at a remarkable rate.

Courtesy of Kartikeya Singh

Back in 2007, Singh (far right) surveyed people about their solar energy use. "I literally went into the villages door-to-door, had a million cups of chai, basically sitting down, talking to people," he said.

Singh found that many local entrepreneurs see solar as a viable business, like this man who bought his own microgrid.

Source: DOE

He sells electricity to his neighbors — who can plug into his solar-powered microgrid — and powers the many batteries you can see here.

Courtesy of Kartikeya Singh

Solar-powered lanterns are also increasingly popular. Here, a family showed Singh all six that they own to light up their home at night.

Courtesy of Kartikeya Singh

This woman ran a business in the state of Uttar Pradesh renting solar-charged lanterns for 2 Rupees a day. If a customer didn't bring it back on time, they got a fine.

Courtesy of Kartikeya Singh

She charged the lanterns from solar panels on her roof. You can see her husband here posing with them.

Courtesy of Kartikeya Singh

This is a franchise of Orb Energy, where a local man has bought the rights to sell Orb solar products. The advertisement reads, "Now our children can study without power cuts."

"You won't find many solar products that don't charge cell phones," Singh said. In 2010, a <a href="http://unu.edu/media-relations/releases/greater-access-to-cell-phones-than-toilets-in-india.html">report</a> found that more Indians had access to cellphones than toilets.

Renewable energy also changes the game for Indian farmers. Half of their incomes can go into paying for diesel pumps to get water for irrigation, Singh said. So installing solar-powered irrigation pumps, like this one, can help cut both costs and carbon emissions.

Courtesy of Kartikeya Singh

Even this gas station is powered by solar, in a somewhat ironic twist.

Courtesy of Kartikeya Singh

One particularly inspirational story of solar adoption comes from a place called <a href="http://www.barefootcollege.org/">Barefoot College</a>. Women from villages across India and around the world get grants to come learn how to build solar lighting systems.

Courtesy of Kartikeya Singh

When Singh visited, they were making circuit boards. Though many are illiterate, "they can tell you what all the components are in English," he said.

Courtesy of Kartikeya Singh

The women, who are mostly grandmothers, build other solar-powered items, too, like this cooker. Since 2008, the program has brought electricity to over 450,000 people in 40,000 households.

Courtesy of Kartikeya Singh

Source: Barefoot College

At night, children can come to the solar-powered school at Barefoot College to learn.

Source: Barefoot College

This movement to provide power, while unfortunately borne out of necessity because of the lack of access to formal electricity, is incredible. "It's democratized power for the people," Singh said.