This article examines how the energy needs of small island states may be met using renewable energy systems which have been applied in the island and coastal states of the Caribbean area. It describes success stories such as the 23,000 solar water heaters installed on homes in Barbados and proposes ways of extending these to other areas of the economy where renewable energy has yet to make an impact. Solar crop dryers are used widely and windmills which were used to grind sugarcane for 300 years in some of the islands are now being revived for electricity generation and water pumping. In the hot and humid Caribbean, the major fraction of our electricity consumption is for refrigeration and air conditioning but solar cooling is rare. Solar thermally powered absorption cycles are inefficient, but it should be possible to operate hybrid systems where biomass fuel is used to supplement the heat from the solar collectors. This area will require a technological breakthrough before it becomes economic. In the meantime, photovoltaic (PV) systems are becoming cheaper and PV-powered vapour compression coolers may be the preferred technology of the immediate future. PV systems are used for other purposes, one is currently used to operate a 75.7 m(3) (20,000 US gallon) per day reverse osmosis desalination plant on the island of St Croix. In isolated islands, it is necessary to consider the full environmental cost of any technology since normal economic analyses often ignore these when they recommend fossil fuelled systems.