With the last batch of solar power panels installed, all herdsmen and farmers in the Ali prefecture of China's Tibet Autonomous Region now have access to electricity made from solar energy.

Ali prefecture is the only region in China with no stable power supply, and locals have used ghee, a clarified butter, for lighting in their homes and temples handed down from their ancestors over the past 10 centuries.

But now, the prefecture has become the first region in Tibet where all the people have access to electricity.

So far, more than 60 power stations, big and small, with a combined generating capacity of 250 kilowatts, have been set up. Some 3,000 solar cookers and 12,500 solar panels have been installed in local households.

Ali, 4,500 meters above the sea level, abounds with solar resources thanks to its thinned air and highly transparent atmosphere.

Dubbed as the roof of Tibet, Ali has up to 3,370 hours of sunshine annually.

According to local government sources, the use of solar power could save the prefecture more than 10 million yuan (about US$ 1.2 million) a year in fuel expenditure alone.

(Xinhua News Agency August 2, 2002)