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PAUL – SOLAR POWERED LIGHTS |
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Saturday, 19 November 2011 00:00 |
 What would life be like without electricity? In Bangladesh, 53% of the population have no access to electricity. The majority of these are rural and poor families who couldn't afford the connection even if it was available. This won't change soon as the country doesn't have the generation capacity.
One answer for the problem is solar energy. However existing solar power systems are too expensive for the poorer people to afford.
Dimensions Bangladesh is a local engineering company established by Kiwi entrepreneurs and owned by MPIL. They have experience in backup and alternative power generation systems. They have experimented with solar power for small households, and have a product that is cheap enough to be widely affordable and will provide income through the establishment of assembly and sale centres in selected villages. The unit will not run any appliances, but will provide enough lights for a typical Bangladesh village household. No more candles and kerosene lamps for kids trying to do their homework!
BANZAid is partnering with Dimensions in an innovative and exciting project to set up the production and sale of these units. The project has received support from the Sustainable Development Fund (SDF) of the New Zealand Aid Programme and is attracting attention from other groups who see wider potential for these units.
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