Some remote communities still have no access to electricity.

For the indigenous people (IP) in Sitio Ilagan, Barangay San Lorenzo, Norzagaray, Bulacan, being off the grid makes lighting homes and powering mobile phones a struggle.

Recharging their battery-operated lights and cellphones is done in another village, Sitio Manalo in Barangay San Lorenzo, where other Dumagat IP like them reside.

The process involves one volunteer collecting from 25 families all their portable lights and phones to be charged, walking uphill on rocky terrain and sailing across Angat Dam to reach San Lorenzo. The recharging is done at a housing site for National Power Corporation employees where Dumagat families live for free, including water and electricity.

After recharging the lights and phones, the volunteer returns to Ilagan via the same grueling route.

In Ukraine, where the electricity service is disrupted because power stations are being repeatedly bombed and damaged by Russian drones and missiles, one local has found batteries to be a reliable source of power amid the frequent blackouts.

Businessman Oleksandr Bentsa has capitalized on the demand for batteries by importing crashed electric cars from the United States and taking their rechargeable batteries.

The five kilowatt-hour battery systems that Bentsa’s company makes can power the lights and electrical equipment in a standard apartment for 10 hours, Business Insider and Financial Times (FT) report.

Bentsa’s father has even a more convenient alternative to powering a house.

He simply plugged his whole house to an old Tesla parked in his yard, according to FT.