By Asif Hassan, Nyamolo Abagi, and Lauren Boucher

Mohammed Rezaul Karim runs a small shop in Cox’s Bazar, a seaside town 400 kilometers south of Dhaka, Bangladesh. From his vantage point, he can clearly make out dotted hills of Myanmar just across the water.

Rezaul has managed his shop for two years. Both his shop and adjacent family home are connected to the local grid. “Normally we use grid electricity to run all appliances in our house and shop. However, grid power goes out 8–9 times a day, on average for 10 hours,” he lamented.

This unreliable grid power motivated Rezaul to install a solar home system (SHS) on his house rooftop. When the electricity goes off, the SHS provides essential electrical power to both his house and business. Earlier in the year, Rezaul purchased his Global LEAP-results-based financing incentivised off-grid television (TV) and fan from Rahimafrooz, a large electronics company operating in Bangladesh. These appliances were part of a full solar package, including a solar panel, TV, fan and multiple lights.

Mohammed Rezaul Karim in his shop.

Having owned his solar package for just three months, Rezaul is already noticing a positive difference in his business. “This the first time I’m using a TV in my shop. The local residents come to watch football matches and Bollywood movies.” Greater foot traffic isn’t the only difference Rezaul has observed. “I’ve seen a 25% increase in business since purchasing the TV and fan”, Rezaul said.

“This the first time I’m using a TV in my shop. The local residents come to watch football matches and Bollywood movies...I’ve seen a 25% increase in business since purchasing the TV and fan”

— Mohammed Rezaul Karim, Business Owner

The additional income earned from his appliances has brought an extra sense of security to Rezual and his family. This anecdotal evidence supports new data on the value of televisions and appliances for businesses. Between 2018 and 2019, Efficiency for Access and 60 Decibels interviewed 2,370 solar TV customers in East Africa and found 9% used their TV as a productive use appliance. On average customers who used their TV as a productive use reported an average increase in weekly income of $14 USD. Learn more about the uses and benefits of off-grid TVs.

Rezaul with members of the Global LEAP Awards team and Rahimafrooz staff.

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About the Global LEAP Awards Customer Spotlight Series

The Global LEAP Awards is an international competition to identify and promote the world’s best off-grid appliances, accelerating market development and innovation. This unique program has evolved into a trusted global brand that serves as the de facto source of accurate, actionable information about the quality and energy performance of off-grid appliances, with support from Power Africa, UK aid, Energising Development, Powering Agriculture, and USAID, and in partnership with the Efficiency for Access Coalition.

This series tells stories collected through interviews with off-grid appliances customers who purchased their product through a Global LEAP Awards results-based financing (RBF) mechanism. Through its RBF, CLASP supported the delivery and enhancement of energy access for over one million beneficiaries across Bangladesh and East Africa. In Bangladesh alone, the RBF mechanism supported sales of about 194,000 energy-efficient off-grid fans and 7,000 best-in-class solar TVs. The series sheds new light on the impact, and thereby the real socio-economic value, of off-grid fans and TVs to appliance consumers in critical appliance markets like Bangladesh.