Dipal Barua
What is the project is trying to achieve?
The Grameen Shakti/Rahimafrooz Batteries project aims to provide the rural population of Bangladesh with renewable energy. Bangladesh has a population of 140 million, but only 30 per cent of them have electricity, leaving around 100 million people dependent on kerosene or, for the more wealthy, diesel generators.
Most solar home systems have been installed under a programme backed by the World Bank, using micro-finance to enable even the poorest households to get one. Grameen Shakti is a subsidiary of Grameen Bank – the first organisation to start the whole concept of micro-finance. One solar home system lasts 25 years and costs around £150, but buyers just need a ten per cent down payment – they can get the rest on credit and pay it off over three years.
It will provide electricity for lights, TVs, radios, mobile phones and more, leading to a better quality of life. And, once it’s in place, the power can be rented out to generate income and pay back the micro-loan. The cost of kerosene is around 400–500 takas per month (£3.15–£3.94), but it’s rising fast in some areas and, as we see it, the best way to bring affordable clean electricity to the world’s poor is with solar power.
What does the ‘solar home system’ consist of?
A typical solar home system consists of a solar panel mounted on the roof (this generates between 40 and 75 kilowatts), a battery, a charge controller and an inverter. It can power between four and six low-energy lights, as well as a socket for TV, radio or battery recharging and possibly a mobile phone charging unit too.
How much does the system cost to install?
The system costs around £150, but the World Bank’s Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Development Project subsidises 15 per cent of the system’s total cost. However, this is diminishing.
How has this programme benefited Bangladesh?
The short answer is that we’re providing people with a better life and more income. The system provides light for children’s education; increased income through rental of the light or increased working hours; jobs as technicians installing the systems; and power for electronic devices such as TVs, radios, fans, microphones and mobile phones. Mobile phones may sound like an unnecessary luxury, but they’re actually essential for new small businesses to bring in more trade and also for staying in touch with distant relatives.
The system will enable people to keep working or offering their services after dark. For example, one family uses the solar energy to power a soldering iron to repair electronics, but with electric light, they can complete more repairs and stay open for longer and increase their income. Solar power will also put an end to the use of kerosene, which is not only expensive, but is a health hazard due to smoke inhalation. And solar power reduces the general use of fossil fuels and hence Bangladesh’s reliance on oil imports.
Another important social or cultural benefit is that more women can enter the economy through Grameen Shakti’s programme to train women to be technicians installing the systems and repairing them should they need it. This is a revolution for the women of Bangladesh.
Is the government of Bangladesh committed to sustainable energy policies and initiatives?
Yes, very committed. The government has placed an exemption on all of the customs duty and taxes on solar systems at the import stage, making the system affordable to all. The government has also earmarked US$15million (£8.1million) in the budget for the research and dissemination of solar and renewable energy. Our target is to fit one million solar home systems in Bangladesh by 2015. So far, since 1996, along with Rahimafrooz Batteries, we’ve installed 90,000 systems.
How will you spend your Ashden Awards prize money?
We will build more Grameen Technology Centres run by women to train more women to be technicians and carry out servicing, repair, sales and manufacturing of the solar systems. We want to expand the programme and maintain it at a community level. In the long term, we hope to establish a resilient solar market, providing jobs and opportunities for women in Bangladesh and expand the initiative across international borders.
Do you think it’s too late to curb carbon emissions and stop climate change? Is there hope?
I think we’ve left it a little bit late, but I think everyone’s waking up to the issue and understands that something must be done. We’re hoping to demonstrate to the world that even a poor country such as Bangladesh is committed to looking for renewable-energy solutions and encouraging people to use it by providing micro-finance because it can bring so many other benefits to them, aside from the obvious environmental points. If it can work in a country such as Bangladesh, then it can work in other countries too.
The Grameen Shakti/Rahimafrooz Batteries project aims to provide the rural population of Bangladesh with renewable energy. Bangladesh has a population of 140 million, but only 30 per cent of them have electricity, leaving around 100 million people dependent on kerosene or, for the more wealthy, diesel generators.
Most solar home systems have been installed under a programme backed by the World Bank, using micro-finance to enable even the poorest households to get one. Grameen Shakti is a subsidiary of Grameen Bank – the first organisation to start the whole concept of micro-finance. One solar home system lasts 25 years and costs around £150, but buyers just need a ten per cent down payment – they can get the rest on credit and pay it off over three years.
It will provide electricity for lights, TVs, radios, mobile phones and more, leading to a better quality of life. And, once it’s in place, the power can be rented out to generate income and pay back the micro-loan. The cost of kerosene is around 400–500 takas per month (£3.15–£3.94), but it’s rising fast in some areas and, as we see it, the best way to bring affordable clean electricity to the world’s poor is with solar power.
What does the ‘solar home system’ consist of?
A typical solar home system consists of a solar panel mounted on the roof (this generates between 40 and 75 kilowatts), a battery, a charge controller and an inverter. It can power between four and six low-energy lights, as well as a socket for TV, radio or battery recharging and possibly a mobile phone charging unit too.
How much does the system cost to install?
The system costs around £150, but the World Bank’s Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Development Project subsidises 15 per cent of the system’s total cost. However, this is diminishing.
How has this programme benefited Bangladesh?
The short answer is that we’re providing people with a better life and more income. The system provides light for children’s education; increased income through rental of the light or increased working hours; jobs as technicians installing the systems; and power for electronic devices such as TVs, radios, fans, microphones and mobile phones. Mobile phones may sound like an unnecessary luxury, but they’re actually essential for new small businesses to bring in more trade and also for staying in touch with distant relatives.
The system will enable people to keep working or offering their services after dark. For example, one family uses the solar energy to power a soldering iron to repair electronics, but with electric light, they can complete more repairs and stay open for longer and increase their income. Solar power will also put an end to the use of kerosene, which is not only expensive, but is a health hazard due to smoke inhalation. And solar power reduces the general use of fossil fuels and hence Bangladesh’s reliance on oil imports.
Another important social or cultural benefit is that more women can enter the economy through Grameen Shakti’s programme to train women to be technicians installing the systems and repairing them should they need it. This is a revolution for the women of Bangladesh.
Is the government of Bangladesh committed to sustainable energy policies and initiatives?
Yes, very committed. The government has placed an exemption on all of the customs duty and taxes on solar systems at the import stage, making the system affordable to all. The government has also earmarked US$15million (£8.1million) in the budget for the research and dissemination of solar and renewable energy. Our target is to fit one million solar home systems in Bangladesh by 2015. So far, since 1996, along with Rahimafrooz Batteries, we’ve installed 90,000 systems.
How will you spend your Ashden Awards prize money?
We will build more Grameen Technology Centres run by women to train more women to be technicians and carry out servicing, repair, sales and manufacturing of the solar systems. We want to expand the programme and maintain it at a community level. In the long term, we hope to establish a resilient solar market, providing jobs and opportunities for women in Bangladesh and expand the initiative across international borders.
Do you think it’s too late to curb carbon emissions and stop climate change? Is there hope?
I think we’ve left it a little bit late, but I think everyone’s waking up to the issue and understands that something must be done. We’re hoping to demonstrate to the world that even a poor country such as Bangladesh is committed to looking for renewable-energy solutions and encouraging people to use it by providing micro-finance because it can bring so many other benefits to them, aside from the obvious environmental points. If it can work in a country such as Bangladesh, then it can work in other countries too.
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