VATIS UPDATE Article

Bangladesh has topped a global list of countries that have installed the highest number of Solar Home Systems (SHS). With four million of the systems set up so far, the country is also at the forefront of nations using clean stoves and biogas plants, and promoting the cause of renewable energy that constitutes a fifth of the world’s final power consumption. This growth in renewable energy use also helped increase employment in Bangladesh.

“As of 2016, more than 6 million SHS and kits were in operation worldwide, with 25 million people benefiting from them. Bangladesh, the largest SHS market worldwide, now has more than 4 million units installed,” said the just released “Renewables 2017 Global Status Report”. Paris-based energy think-tank, REN21, brought out the report with financing from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

The report also credited microcredit schemes for helping Bangladesh achieve the feat of becoming the largest SHS market in the world. “Markets for both mini-grids and stand-alone systems are evolving rapidly. Bangladesh, with 4 million units installed, has the largest solar home system market using mainly microcredit schemes,” said the report.