Swarm Electrification in Bangladesh
Bangladesh is well-known for its vulnerability to climate change ranking in the Top10 of the Long-Term Climate Risk Index [1]. Not as well-known are Bangladesh’s innovative development approaches and the fact that it is the country with the largest off-grid solar power program in the world [2].
The off-grid solar electrification started in 2003 as a 50,000-household pilot program which was expanded widely to the point that it now provides clean and affordable electricity to 20 million people in Bangladesh. The program had an immense impact on rural families by improving health and living conditions and enabling more study time for children [2].
Nevertheless, there are still millions of people without electricity. In Bangladesh those people are disadvantaged by no direct access to electricity. The average rent-out price for light is US$ 3.50/kWh and a staggering US$ 10.50/kWh for mobile charging which is unaffordable for most [3].
At the same time, people with solar home systems (SHS) are wasting a huge amount of electricity when their batteries are full and excess electricity goes unused. It is estimated that 30% of electricity generated by SHS in Bangladesh is wasted or in other words, around 1-billion-dollar worth of electricity is lost every year [4].
Sebastian Groh, a PhD student at that time, realized this mismatch and founded SOLshare in 2014. His idea was to create a platform where SHS users and non-users can exchange electricity directly. The initial situation for the start-up was excellent with already 5 million installed SHS, a well-established mobile money market, a supportive legal framework, and a high population density meaning a short distance between houses.
Thereupon, SOLshare developed one of the first peer-to-peer microgrids worldwide by utilizing the already existing infrastructure in Bangladesh. SOLshare’s microgrid consists of [5]:
- a SOLbox, a bi-directional smart meter enabling P2P electricity trading, smart grid management, remote monitoring, mobile money payment, and data analytics
- the SOLapp, which manages customer portfolios (user information and payments) and updates accordingly with user activities and electricity consumption
- the SOLweb, where the information of the SOLbox and SOLapp is being gathered and analyzed to understand systems paradigms and irregularities
Every SOLbox can be connected to three other houses (with or without SHS) that also have a SOLbox. The more houses are connected and the larger the mesh of SOLshare users gets, the stronger the system becomes. This is also referred to as swarm electrification.
The SHS users can flexibly choose to either sell their excess electricity to earn extra income or keep the electricity to run extra appliances like a fridge or computer themselves. They also have the option to buy more electricity from other users if their SHS does not produce enough electricity for their needs.
Users who cannot afford a SHS themselves or choose not to buy one can also join the network by installing a SOLbox in their home at a fraction of the cost of a SHS. The users can simply load credit on their SOLbox via mobile payment and buy affordable electricity when they need it. The social impact is huge with 40% of SOLshare customers being first-time electricity users [6].
SOLshare is scaling up fast and activated its 100th grid at the end of 2021 allowing thousands of people to access and trade electricity. The start-up is committed to growing further based on their principle of 5D’s: Decentralization, Decarbonization, Digitalization, Democratization, and Disruption.
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Text by Christian Doedt
References
[1] Germanwatch (2021), Global Climate Risk Index 2021, Online: https://www.germanwatch.org/sites/default/files/Global%20Climate%20Risk%20Index%202021_2.pdf
[2] World Bank (2021), Bangladesh Solar Home Systems Provide Clean Energy for 20 million People, Online: https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2021/04/07/bangladesh-solar-home-systems-provide-clean-energy-for-20-million-people
[3] Groh, Sebastian (2018), Solar Peer-to-Peer Grids: From an Energy Access Model to the Future for Utilities Globally, Online: https://www.asiacleanenergyforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Sebastian-Groh-Solar-peer-to-peer-Grids.pdf
[4] Reuters (2020), Bangladeshi solar-sharing start-up aims to cut power waste, Online: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bangladesh-climatechange-technology-t/bangladeshi-solar-sharing-start-up-aims-to-cut-power-waste-idUSKBN24332L
[5] SOLshare (2022), SOLshare — What we do, Online: https://me-solshare.com/what-we-do/
[6] Ashden (2020), SOLshare / Giving villagers in Bangladesh the power to trade electricity, Online: https://ashden.org/winners/solshare/
