Prospects of off-grid solar power
Friday, 17 April 2009
A recent FE report described how 50,000 people in rural Natore were using solar power. No one knows many of the rural areas would get power from the erratic national grid. It would require mobilisation of vast resources for setting up the infrastructure for the transmission of conventional electricity to these areas. For such places, therefore, solar power remains the best option.
Even a medium sized power plant requires a lot of investment and takes years to set it up and make operational. But a house in a remote part of Bangladesh can have electricity instantly from a single solar panel on its roof top. The access to electricity in Bangladesh, estimated at around 35 per cent of the population, is one of the lowest the world. In rural Bangladesh, where nearly 80 per cent of the population lives, solar power can benefit many and quickly.
There is a governmental plan to bring the whole country under power supply by 2020. But experts say that at the current rate of conventional electrification, it would take much longer to provide electricity to the entire population of the country.
In contrast, an abundance of sunshine can produce enough electricity for much of the population on a regular basis throughout rural Bangladesh.
For universal electrification, this alternative energy source will have to be fully developed. Private business houses have started introducing the solar photovoltaic system in the countryside. The government should support these activities under a comprehensive policy framework.
Shimul Biswas
Ukilpara
Mymensingh
Even a medium sized power plant requires a lot of investment and takes years to set it up and make operational. But a house in a remote part of Bangladesh can have electricity instantly from a single solar panel on its roof top. The access to electricity in Bangladesh, estimated at around 35 per cent of the population, is one of the lowest the world. In rural Bangladesh, where nearly 80 per cent of the population lives, solar power can benefit many and quickly.
There is a governmental plan to bring the whole country under power supply by 2020. But experts say that at the current rate of conventional electrification, it would take much longer to provide electricity to the entire population of the country.
In contrast, an abundance of sunshine can produce enough electricity for much of the population on a regular basis throughout rural Bangladesh.
For universal electrification, this alternative energy source will have to be fully developed. Private business houses have started introducing the solar photovoltaic system in the countryside. The government should support these activities under a comprehensive policy framework.
Shimul Biswas
Ukilpara
Mymensingh