Off-Grid Solutions | Clean Energy for Un-Electrified People

Solar Panel Installation in Ecuador

“A few months back Nancy Wimmer told us about Bangladesh’s solar success.  In one of the poorest countries on earth, a renewable energy company, Grameen Shakti, is busy installing nearly 1,000 solar home systems each day.  It turns out all that small solar has achieved something quite big. In November Grameen Shakti hit one million Solar Home Systems installed. The company’s milestone reinforces a lesson that is increasingly clear: Whether it’s Germany, the U.S., or even China, distributed solar installations are driving the solar revolution.

The Bangladesh story is particularly exciting because Grameen has single handedly shattered the energy ‘axioms’ on which the international policy community has relied for decades: ‘Renewable energy is too expensive.’  Wrong!  ‘Even if solar makes sense, the poor can’t afford it or they won’t pay.’  Wrong.  ‘The grid will come regardless so off-grid, decentralized energy is a waste of time, money and effort.’   Wrong, wrong, wrong. What Bangladesh does prove is that Carl Pope is right: deploying solar makes the most sense for off-grid areas where the economics are compelling and the need is great.”

EcoWatch