Bangladesh now has the fastest growing solar home systems program in the world with more than 50,000 new installations a month, the World Bank (WB) said in a statement on 25 February, 2013. 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. With support from the WB and other development partners, about two million solar home systems have already been installed in the rural areas. The lender has contributed about $492 million to the project that ended in December 2012. Recognising the success in providing rural electricity, the WB in September last year approved the second phase of the project worth $155 million to further the initiative. The second phase will support provision of 550,000 solar homes systems in rural areas, renewable energy-based mini-grids, replacement of diesel irrigation pumps with solar pumps, dissemination of clean cook stoves and deployment of energy-efficient compact fluorescent lamps. The government-owned Infrastructure Development Company Ltd and non-government organisations such as Grameen Shakti, Rural Services Foundation and many others have partnered the effort.
Sayed Farrukh Ahmed
Assistant Professor
Department of Business Administration
Faculty of Business & Economics
Daffodil International University
