Southeast Asia’s green push brings solar power, but who pays to keep it on?

For most of his life, Osman Uki lived in a world dictated by the sun, relying on kerosene and leftover cooking oil to light his home in a remote indigenous village in Malaysia. That changed in April when solar power finally reached Kampung Bertang in the state of Pahang, allowing families to power electric lights, refrigerators and rice cookers.

For Osman, one of the biggest changes is what happens after sunset. “We are happy with the light we have at night.

The kids can read at night now. We...