Other solar-powered businesses include barbershops, rice mills, saw mills and restaurants - the possibilities are endless. Some GS customers operate solar-charged cell phones for a fee. Cell phones provide significant income for the owner - as much as $100 a month. Some GS clients have used PV systems to create a "micro-utility" - selling power or renting electrical equipment to nearby shop owners. Umor Ali is a prime example of the ways that GS is stimulating creative methods of energy distribution in Bangladesh. Ali purchased a PV system and five lights for $470. Retaining one lamp to light his own shop, Ali rents out the four others to neighboring shopkeepers, collecting a total of $12 a month in fees. That money, couple with the additional income from keeping his shop open longer hours has increased his standard of living significantly.
This arrangement suits the shopkeepers who rent from him as well, because they are able to reap the benefits of solar electricity without having to buy a system. The increased revenue they bring in from keeping their shops open longer makes the rental fee worthwhile.
Enhancing Services
To reach communities most in need, GS takes several factors in account when establishing new offices. First, they target villages with no access to the grid. The also evaluate the poverty level of residents and the range of potential applications for the PV systems.
Once they establish new branches, GS trains unemployed local youth to become PV system installers and maintenance technicians. This strategy not only creates jobs for and transfers technical skills to disadvantaged young people, but it also provides clients with a local source for post-purchase services and maintenance. GS also trains customers, teaching them to maintain their systems properly and to handle small repairs themselves. This, in addition to a 20-year guarantee on its solar panels, ensures that GS customers enjoy PV systems that will run smoothly for years to come.
Expanding Horizons
Nowhere are the community-wide benefits of the solar systems more evident than on the remote island of Kutubdia, in Southern Bangladesh. On this isolated island, home to 150,000 residents, GS has set up the country's first solar-powered computer education center. Despite the complete lack of electricity on the island, residents can receive computer training and link to the Internet, gaining skills and accessing information that can enrich their lives and expand their job opportunities.
GS launched a similar center in the mainland city of Cox's Bazar, the tourist capital of Bangladesh, as part of its Rural Information and Communication Technology program. This program aims to close the digital divide experienced by Bangladesh rural citizens by offering a variety of internet and computer-based services at solar-powered computer centers. Tourist-based businesses like hotels benefit by publicizing on the internet and offering on-line reservations. Other services available to residents include IT training in software development and hardware maintenance, e-government applications (on-line driver's license and passport renewal, for example), e-healthcare (connecting rural patients and medical practitioners to urban doctors who can provide diagnosis, consultation and treatment) and distance learning opportunities. GS has established five computer centers and hope to open 16 more.
GS is exploring other renewable energy sources and methods for marketing them. They have supported the installation of six wind turbines in coastal areas, four of which feature a back-up diesel engine. In the Northern Bengal province, GS installed 30 plants that use bio-digesters to produce biogas, a clean-burning replacement for the cow dung commonly used as cooking fuel. The residues from this process can be used as an alternative to chemical fertilizers for crops or farm-raised fish, furthering the economic and environmental gains of this system.
GS is becoming increasingly adept at bringing energy access to new or overlooked markets. Its ground-breaking work was recently acknowledged with the 2002 Energy Globe Award, awarded by the Austrian Federal Minister of Environment. This prestigious award recognizes the "Best 50" energy projects from a pool of more than 1000 entries from around the world.
Amidst the din of ongoing energy and development debate, Grameen Shakti is quietly demonstrating the impressive results that can be achieved by a grass-roots, poverty-focused energy company committed to serving the very poorest.
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Grameen Shakti: http://www.grameen-info.org/grameen/gshakti/
FROM Solar Today, a SustainableBusiness.com Content Partner
