ABSTRACT

Since 2003, over 4.1 million Solar Home Systems (SHSs) have been installed in Bangladesh, contributing to a rise in energy access in rural Bangladesh from 26% to 68.9% and saving about 200,000 tons of emissions every year. However, there are large regional discrepancies in SHS uptake hitherto overlooked by academic research. Using Rogers’s Diffusion of Innovation (DoI) theory as the theoretical framework, this paper explores how different levels of literacy, wealth and cosmopolitanism impact SHS installations at the district-level in Bangladesh. Whilst it has been argued in previous research that education, financial means and regional inter- and intra-connectivity are important factors in SHS distribution, this paper concludes that, at a district-level, this is overshadowed by the influence of Participating Organisations (POs) who distribute the SHSs. This paper finds that POs are effective mobilizers of consumer demand, advocating closer public-private partnerships in the deployment of clean energy solutions. The research also finds that large districts where grid expansions may be more costly are positively associated with SHS uptake suggesting that SHSs are a viable alternative to grid electricity in rural areas.

摘要

自2003年以来，孟加拉国已安装了超过410万套太阳能家庭系统（SHS），从而使孟加拉国农村地区的能源获取量从26％增长到68.9％，每年节省约20万吨的排放量。但是，迄今为止，学术研究忽略了SHS吸收方面的大区域差异。本文以罗杰斯（Rogers）的创新扩散（DoI）理论为理论框架，探讨了不同文化水平，财富和世界主义如何影响孟加拉国地区级的SHS设施。尽管先前的研究认为教育，财务手段以及区域内部和内部的连通性是SHS分布的重要因素，但本文的结论是，在地区层面，分发SHS的参与组织（PO）的影响掩盖了这一点。本文发现，采购订单是消费者需求的有效动员者，倡导在清洁能源解决方案的部署中建立更紧密的公私合作伙伴关系。该研究还发现，电网扩展成本可能较高的大区域与SHS的使用呈正相关，这表明SHS是农村地区电网电力的可行替代方案。