Most people are shocked to hear that nearly one in five people on Earth still don’t have electricity. Even as cell phones become ubiquitous, villagers in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of India must walk miles to charge them. But new technologies now offer scalable, sustainable solutions that I believe can usher in a new era of light, and lift millions out of poverty, enable equal rights for women, and jump-start economic development. They also represent a unique, transforming opportunity for the West to solve its own energy crisis.

The developing world has largely skipped the analog stage of power development, leaping straight from the Middle Ages to the digital age. Unencumbered by aging infrastructure, dependence on fossil fuels, or outdated laws and regulations, these countries are the ideal incubators of innovation; indeed, they have the potential to surpass us as global energy leaders in just a couple of decades.