Impact of solar panel on livelihoods in a selected area of Bangladesh

Authors

  • Mohammad Ataur Rahman Department of Agricultural Finance, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh-2202
  • Md. Ibrahim Kholilullah 2Department of Agricultural Finance, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh-2202

Keywords:

Solar panel, livelihood, bangladesh

Abstract

Demand-supply gap of electricity is one of the largest bottlenecks for economic growth in Bangladesh. Solar panels may be a reliable and good source for supplying electricity throughout the country. The study was undertaken to determine the impact of solar panel on livelihoods, Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and Payback period (PBP) of the solar panel and the problems and constrains of the solar panel faced by the households. For sustainable solar panel use, financial analysis is essential to increase the sustainability of poor people’s livelihoods through promoting improved access to  different types of capital. With these views multi-stage cluster sampling technique was used to collect data from 60 respondents who were using solar panels in some areas of Sherpur upazila under Bogra district in Bangladesh. Survey method was followed to collect data from the respondents. Data were  collected by the researcher through personal interview and focus group discussion. Tabular technique was applied for the analysis of data and sustainable livelihood framework was used for the analysis of household assets. Most of the respondents reported that both their income, expenditure level as well as their livelihoods had increased after using the solar panels. After getting the solar panel purchased most of the livelihood assets were improved.  Financial analyses were done on the basis of investment decision making tools revealed that NPV, BCR, IRR and PBP were Tk 8242.97, 1.03, 17.46% and 5.21 years, respectively. But 75% of the respondents said that the land was unchanged. 96.67% of the respondents reported shortage of sunlight in rainy day as problem, 90% of the respondents marked choosing of proper place and angel to place the solar panel as problem, and 91.67% of the respondents showed low power storage capacity as problem. It may be conclude that Bangladesh has a great potentiality to adopt more solar panels especially in household level since it has positive impact on livelihoods. 

References

Ishrat, M., Malek, M., Hossain,M. and Sarkar, MAR, “Production and Utilization of Natural Gas in Bangladesh,” (2015), (PDF Download Available). Available from: https// www. researchgate.net/publication/ 289374730/ [accessed May 20, 2017].

Bangladesh Power Development Board. Retrieved 3 November 2014. http://www.bpdb.gov.bd/bpdb/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5&Itemid=6. (Accessed on April 30, 2017).

Bangladesh Country Commercial Guide 2016. Bangladesh-Power and Energy. Available at https://www.export.gov/article?id=Bangladesh-Power-and-energy (Accessed on May 2017).

Momotaz, SN and Karim, AM, “Customer Satisfaction of the Solar Home System Service in Bangladesh,” World Journal of Social Sciences, 2(7) (2012) 193 – 210.

DFID 2000. Sustainable Livelihoods Guidance Sheets. Department for International Development.Http://www.Livelihoods.Org/Info/Info_Guidanceshessts.Html. (Accessed on January 30, 2016).

Berk, J., DeMarzo, P. and Stangeland, D., Corporate Finance (3rd Canadian ed.). Toronto: Pearson Canada. (2015) 64.

Fred, T. and Mark TG., “Handbook of Public Finance (Public Administration and Public Policy),” Routledge publication. (1998) 251.

Gupta, GS, “Managerial Economics,” Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited, India. (1990) 215.

Jim M., “Financial Management: An Introduction, Routledge Publishing,” New York. (2002) 358.

Kandpal, C. Bharati, J. and Sinha,CS., “Economics of Family Sized Biogas Plants in India,” Energy Conversation Management, 32 (1991) 101-13.

Singh, KJ. and Sooch, S., “Comparative Study of Economics of Different Models of Family Size Biogas Plants for State of Punjab,” India. Energy Conversion and Management, 45 (2004) 1329–41.

Dhaka Tribune Beta,2016. available at http://www.dhakatribune.com/business/ 2016/10/03/lending/2016/10/03/lending-rates- move-closer-single-digit/.(Accessed on January 30, 2017).

Neva, RG 2003. Five Kinds of Capital: Useful Concepts for Sustainable Development. Global Development and Environment Institute Working Paper No. 03-07. Tufts University Medford MA 02155, USA http://ase.tufts.edu/gdae.

Harun, MA. 2015. The role of solar home system in socio-economic development of rural Bangladesh, A PhD Dissertation, Department of Economics, Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh.

Islamic Development Bank 2012. Solar power is turning on the lights in Bangladesh. Is DB SUCCESS STORY SERIES: NO.4 (MARCH 2012). available athttp://www.isdb.org/irj/go/km/docs/documents/IDBDevelopments/Attachments/Projects/4_IDB SuccessStory4_Bangladesh_Solar_power_is_turning_on_the_lights.pdf (accessed on May 05,2017).

Downloads

Published

2017-06-21

How to Cite

Rahman, M. A., & Kholilullah, M. I. (2017). Impact of solar panel on livelihoods in a selected area of Bangladesh. Journal of Renewable Energy and Smart Grid Technology, 12(1), 133–142. Retrieved from https://ph01.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/RAST/article/view/90452