Grameen Shakti Solar Homes Project

This carbon offset project consists of purchase of ERs generated from installation of up to 1,000,000 solar homes systems by Grameen Shakti, the project proponent, to rural users in Bangladesh. The costs of the SHS can be paid on a cash basis, or can be purchased through a variety of monthly installment plans to maximize participation by increasing affordability. Grameen Shakti has installed over 75,000 such systems in Bangladesh, and has set up 120 offices for service delivery and performance monitoring. The use of the solar home system technology will displace kerosene and/or diesel for larger systems to meet household lighting and personal electricity needs. The systems are large enough to provide sufficient power for 1-2 lights and a television or radio. One of the major local environmental benefits would be the reduction of household indoor air pollution. Carbon Finance Revenues would allow for the implementation of the program by providing additional resources to capitalize a revolving fund which will combine CF revenues, funds from Grameen, and funds from IDCOL (both grant and loan) to finance the loans to the individual households. The implementation of this program will increase access in Bangladesh to modern energy sources, where less than 15% of the population is connected to the national electricity grid. The purchase would be made by the World Bank-managed Community Development Carbon Fund (CDCF). The CDCF provides carbon finance to small-scale CDM projects in the least developed countries and poorer areas of all developing countries and seek to facilitate projects which include, as a measurable output, the provision of goods and services that would lead to improvement in the social welfare of the communities involved in the projects.