On the occasion of the International Day of Clean Energy, rooftop solar energy emerges as a beacon of hope for sustainable development in urban centres like Dhaka, where population density is seemingly at odds with the high land availability required for solar. But innovation, imagination, and the right design could maximise utility from the supposedly limited space in our bustling city.
Amidst the worsening climate crisis, the energy transition—shifting from fossil fuels towards renewable energy to reduce carbon emissions—is becoming an imperative. Renewable energy in Bangladesh remains far below the government’s target of achieving and is heading off course in achieving 15 percent by 2030, 40 percent by 2041, and 100 percent by 2050. The urgency in scaling up required to meet these targets is still largely missing. While solar energy dominates the country’s renewable energy portfolio, its implementation is riddled with challenges.
Bangladesh, as a signatory to the Paris Agreement, has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and transitioning to a more sustainable energy mix. However, the country’s current energy generation mix reveals significant and continued reliance on fossil fuels, with 39.63 percent of installed capacity coming from natural gas, 22.97 percent from coal, and 18.83 percent from heavy fuel oil (HFO). Renewable energy contributes only 4.96 percent of the total installed capacity, highlighting the pressing need to accelerate the adoption of sustainable energy sources.
Within the renewable energy mix, solar power accounts for 1256 MW, with 705 MW generated from large-scale solar parks. This underscores the untapped potential for distributed solar energy systems, particularly rooftop solar, to complement centralised solar parks and enhance the country’s renewable energy portfolio. After all, the first renewables success story in the country was the deployment of over 5 million solar home systems (SHS) across rural, remote areas of Bangladesh. Decentralised energy also holds a significant advantage in not incurring as much transmission loss as large-scale utility solar production.