Solaric has developed a power solution named Nano-Grid for small-scale rural areas of power starving Bangladesh.
The concept of Nano-grid is based on the idea of solar home systems (SHSs) in which the basic electricity needs of the households are met, in addition to some small scale agricultural or commercial applications.
This is a solar power system with a battery bank, optimizer, and solar PV panels which can manage electricity generation as well as distribution to 50 homes.
Each Nano-Grid can convert electricity produced by solar panels to 220V DC. The electricity consumption of this system is about 50 percent cheaper than diesel fuel.
Main feature of the Nano Grid is that they are scalable at all levels with a minimum starting load that reduce the cost of installation.
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For a small village, a consumer can power a TV, fan, and 4–5 LED lights for about $5 a month using a nano-grid.
Solaric, a joint venture firm between US and Bangladesh has also introduced 3rd Generation Solar home System, the only commercially available high voltage DC based Solar Home System in the world.
Solaric started its distribution in 2009 in Bangladesh. In 2015, the company plans to solar connect 250K homes and by the end of 2015 aims to connect homes at a rate of 20K homes/month.
The company opened a factory in Dhaka in 2014 to manufacture solar optimizers, a key component of solar home systems (SHSs) that increase power voltage.
The firm also plans LED bulbs and energy-efficient fans in future. In 2014, company spent around Tk 40 crore ($5 million) on expansion.
The total installed capacity of the SHSs is around 140 MW, sufficient to provide clean electricity to 14 million rural people.
Only 42 percent of the population in rural Bangladesh has access to electricity, and reliance on the grid alone will not help to achieve electricity to all by 2021.The electricity supply is not reliable and supply does not meet the demand.
About 67 percent of Bangladesh’s population is rural and In 2013 only an estimated 59.6 percent of the population was connected to the electricity grid.
Sabeena Wahid
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