Here comes the sun: New solutions for world's energy woes

The number is staggering: Approximately 2 billion of the world's people -- nearly one-third of the human population -- have no access to electricity. Consequently, they do without many of the amenities that people in the developed world take for granted -- everything from air conditioning and refrigeration to television, indoor lighting, and pumps that supply drinking water. And without electricity to power factory operations or other commercial endeavors, those 2 billion people remain mired in an endless cycle of poverty.