When state run power plants cannot cope with demand, sometimes solutions come along that address the problem on a grass roots level. In Bangladesh, some 80 to 85 million people cannot count on electricity. Power shortages in rural areas are a staple of everyday life here, made worse by population growth and improved industrial sectors in Bangladesh. Read more about Global Solar Photovoltaic Market Analysis and Forecasts to 2020

The World Bank recently released $130 million to purchase single-home solar in Bangladesh, with the goal of helping Bangladesh achieve universal electricity access in the next decade. The solar in Bangladesh is a blessing to families who are too remote to connect to the state’s electricity system.

In just one year, 300,000 households were outfitted with solar in Bangladesh. In terms of population, it gives 2.5 million more Bangladeshis access to dependable electricity.

Global Solar Photovoltaic Market Analysis and Forecasts to 2020

The money from World Bank is to be distributed in the form of loans through Grameen Shakti, a branch of the micro credit pioneer Grameen Bank. Fourteen other aid organizations will help deliver the loans, which have generous terms and conditions, to poor people without electrical power to greatly extend household electricity via solar in Bangladesh.  The program has become immensely popular, with Grameen Shatki struggling to keep up with demand for the systems. Another side benefit has been the creation of 20,000 jobs – green jobs – with 10% of them employing rural women who are now able to earn around $100 per month, a decent income due to solar in Bangladesh.

The addition of electricity has revolutionized the lives of the rural poor, by providing access to technologies taken for granted in the west. For many people of rural Bangladesh, the addition of a mobile phone has been life changing – just from the addition of solar in Bangladesh..

In terms of US dollars, solar in Bangladesh costs anywhere from $135 to $970, based on capacity. The villagers are able to pay for them in installments. The Bangladeshi government lifted import duties on solar panels last month, which should cause prices to fall, however. By 2012, officials at Grameen Shakti say they hope to have brought electricity to 10 million people.

Some 66 of Bangladesh’s homes that have solar panels obtained their solar energy through Grameen Shakti, with 10,000 homes outfitted with solar systems each month. Now, formerly unaffordable household products like televisions and cell phones are becoming common in rural Bangladeshi cities.

In some cases, access to electricity has resulted in a changed lifestyle due to higher earnings. A tailor named Akthar Hossain told reporters that with the addition of electric light generated by solar in Bangladesh, he had to stop work when the sun went down. Because he can now work several more hours per day, his income per day has nearly doubled, from approximately $7 per day to $12 per day.