Living in the Light : The Bangladesh Solar Home Systems Story

The Bangladesh Solar Home Systems (SHS) Program is the largest national program in the world for off-grid electrification. Begun in 2003, SHS installations under the Program ended in 2018. It is the longest, continuously operating off-grid electrif...

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Main Authors:	Cabraal, Anil, Ward, William A., Bogach, V. Susan, Jain, Amit
Format:	Report
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2021
Subjects:	SOLAR ENERGY RENEWABLE ENERGY SOLAR HOME SYSTEM CLIMATE CHANGE
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/153291616567928411/Living-in-the-Light-The-Bangladesh-Solar-Home-Systems-Story http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35311

id	okr-10986-35311
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-353112021-04-23T14:02:20Z Living in the Light : The Bangladesh Solar Home Systems Story Cabraal, Anil Ward, William A. Bogach, V. Susan Jain, Amit SOLAR ENERGY RENEWABLE ENERGY SOLAR HOME SYSTEM CLIMATE CHANGE The Bangladesh Solar Home Systems (SHS) Program is the largest national program in the world for off-grid electrification. Begun in 2003, SHS installations under the Program ended in 2018. It is the longest, continuously operating off-grid electrification program in the world. The SHS Program was led and implemented by the Infrastructure Development Company Ltd (IDCOL). Over a 15-year period beginning in 2003, over 4.1 million SHS were sold and supported using a competitive business model that offered consumers a choice of quality SHS, made affordable with financing. About 14 percent of the Bangladesh population (2011 Census), about 20 million people, obtained electricity services through the SHS Program. The SHS Program enabled one-quarter of the unelectrified rural population in 2003 to obtain electricity services far sooner than would have been possible with grid electricity. SHS were mainly used in rural homes for lighting, mobile phone charging, and powering TVs and radios. They were also used in about 200,000 rural businesses and religious facilities. The program led to SHS becoming a credible electricity source in Bangladesh and, more broadly, to the acceptance of solar photovoltaics (PV) as an electricity generation technology. Building on the credibility gained, SHS distribution to the poorest households under other government programs and commercial SHS sales picked up in later years along with IDCOL-financed sales. While the Bangladesh SHS Program will continue to 2021, this report covers the program from 2003 to 2018, describes its benefits and costs, and discusses how the program adapted to inevitable changes and risks over the 15-year period. It draws lessons that can help guide the development and implementation of other sustainable off-grid electrification programs. 2021-03-25T20:49:44Z 2021-03-25T20:49:44Z 2021-03-24 Report http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/153291616567928411/Living-in-the-Light-The-Bangladesh-Solar-Home-Systems-Story http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35311 English CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Economic & Sector Work Economic & Sector Work :: Energy Study South Asia Bangladesh
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	English
topic	SOLAR ENERGY RENEWABLE ENERGY SOLAR HOME SYSTEM CLIMATE CHANGE
spellingShingle	SOLAR ENERGY RENEWABLE ENERGY SOLAR HOME SYSTEM CLIMATE CHANGE Cabraal, Anil Ward, William A. Bogach, V. Susan Jain, Amit Living in the Light : The Bangladesh Solar Home Systems Story
geographic_facet	South Asia Bangladesh
description	The Bangladesh Solar Home Systems (SHS) Program is the largest national program in the world for off-grid electrification. Begun in 2003, SHS installations under the Program ended in 2018. It is the longest, continuously operating off-grid electrification program in the world. The SHS Program was led and implemented by the Infrastructure Development Company Ltd (IDCOL). Over a 15-year period beginning in 2003, over 4.1 million SHS were sold and supported using a competitive business model that offered consumers a choice of quality SHS, made affordable with financing. About 14 percent of the Bangladesh population (2011 Census), about 20 million people, obtained electricity services through the SHS Program. The SHS Program enabled one-quarter of the unelectrified rural population in 2003 to obtain electricity services far sooner than would have been possible with grid electricity. SHS were mainly used in rural homes for lighting, mobile phone charging, and powering TVs and radios. They were also used in about 200,000 rural businesses and religious facilities. The program led to SHS becoming a credible electricity source in Bangladesh and, more broadly, to the acceptance of solar photovoltaics (PV) as an electricity generation technology. Building on the credibility gained, SHS distribution to the poorest households under other government programs and commercial SHS sales picked up in later years along with IDCOL-financed sales. While the Bangladesh SHS Program will continue to 2021, this report covers the program from 2003 to 2018, describes its benefits and costs, and discusses how the program adapted to inevitable changes and risks over the 15-year period. It draws lessons that can help guide the development and implementation of other sustainable off-grid electrification programs.
format	Report
author	Cabraal, Anil Ward, William A. Bogach, V. Susan Jain, Amit
author_facet	Cabraal, Anil Ward, William A. Bogach, V. Susan Jain, Amit
author_sort	Cabraal, Anil
title	Living in the Light : The Bangladesh Solar Home Systems Story
title_short	Living in the Light : The Bangladesh Solar Home Systems Story
title_full	Living in the Light : The Bangladesh Solar Home Systems Story
title_fullStr	Living in the Light : The Bangladesh Solar Home Systems Story
title_full_unstemmed	Living in the Light : The Bangladesh Solar Home Systems Story
title_sort	living in the light : the bangladesh solar home systems story
publisher	World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate	2021
url	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/153291616567928411/Living-in-the-Light-The-Bangladesh-Solar-Home-Systems-Story http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35311
_version_	1764482768551542784

Living in the Light : The Bangladesh Solar Home Systems Story

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