Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Solar homes systems are an economically viable solution for providing electricity in villages where grid electricity is difficult or expensive to reach.
“Today, more than 1.3 million solar home systems have already been installed in the rural areas of Bangladesh. Every month, 50,000 additional households are getting solar home systems,” the World Bank (WB) said in a project update on Tuesday.
Solar home systems meet the basic electricity needs of rural people, who would have otherwise been dependent on kerosene lamps for lighting. The electricity provided from the systems has helped children spend more time studying, and new opportunities are emerging for village enterprises. Rural markets can now remain open longer hours after dark and conduct brisk businesses, thanks to the solar lights.
The WB is supporting the solar homes system program through the Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Development Project. The program began in 2003 with an initial target of installing 50,000 systems within 5 years. That target was achieved within 2 years and the World Bank continued to provide support by mobilizing additional funds. Later on, other development partners joined in supporting the program. .
The Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL) implements the program through a network of 29 non-government organizations (NGOs). Rural families buy solar home systems from partner NGOs under a micro-credit scheme.
Households typically pay a down payment of 10-15 percent of the system costs, and the rest are repaid in 2-3 year period.
The solar home systems consist of a solar panel, a battery, and a charge controller. The battery is charged by solar energy, which in turn provides electricity to the households. The systems are improving quality of life for millions of people.
The World Bank is committed to continue its support to the successful renewable energy program of the Government of Bangladesh and is currently preparing a new project with an aim to increase access to modern, reliable energy by households and enterprises in rural areas through renewable energy.
The proposed new project would provide further support to the solar home systems and mini-grid options for increasing access to electricity in the rural areas. The proposed project is also expected to provide support for solar irrigation pumps.
BBN/SSR/AD-26June12-9:50 am (BST)
