Even under the searing glare of the afternoon sun, the swarm of shoppers at Gulistan’s Sundarban Market shows no sign of thinning. The air is thick with the sound of frantic haggling and the rhythmic tapping of calculators as buyers weigh their options in a high-stakes game of price and necessity.
Amidst the chaos, Mobarak Hossain, a businessman from Munshiganj, navigates the shops with a singular mission: to hunt down an IPS (Instant Power Supply) unit.
“The electricity in our area has become a gamble,” he says, pausing to wipe his brow.
“It might hold for two hours, but by the third, we’re in the dark.”
He is determined to buy, yet his expression sours as he moves from one shop to the next. The price of the power cell, the heart of the system, has surged beyond his expectations.
“A battery that used to cost Tk18,000 is now being quoted at Tk23,000.”
Mobarak’s sticker shock is no longer an isolated incident; it is a symptom of a nationwide shift.
Communities that had grown accustomed to a stable grid are now grappling with a sudden, flickering uncertainty.
In this new landscape of rolling blackouts, IPS units and solar power systems have moved from luxury items to survival essentials, serving as the centerpiece of a country’s desperate adaptation to a failing light.
Hasibur Shamim, a businessman from Patuakhali, made the long journey to Dhaka with a goal: to secure an IPS unit powerful enough to keep four fans and two lights running.
“For the past few years, the IPS in my house gathered dust as load shedding had practically vanished,” he remarked. “But the world has changed. In this sweltering heat, the power cuts last for hours, and I’ve been forced back into the market.”
However, Shamim arrived to find a market defined by scarcity. “Where a shop once saw 10 customers, they now see 20,” he noted. “The suppliers I used to trust simply can’t keep up. There is a genuine crisis, and the prices reflect it.”
A survey of Gulistan, Kaptanbazar, and Nawabpur confirms this mounting desperation. Retailers who once struggled to sell 100 units a month are now moving 150 to 200. Nawabpur, the city’s historic electronics hub, has morphed into a frantic focal point for alternative energy, as wholesalers from across the country arrive seeking bulk shipments, and often leave empty-handed too.
As demand has surged, prices have followed a steep upward trajectory.
At Mim Battery House in Malibagh, a basic 400VA Hamco unit, sufficient for two fans and a few lights, starts at Tk10,500.
For those needing more power, an 800VA setup for four fans and five LED lights now commands between Tk35,000 and Tk40,000, including batteries. A 500-watt system can reach Tk52,000, while high-capacity units topping out at 7,500 watts are being quoted at prices as high as Tk1,00,000.
Yet, heightened demand is only half the story; a crippling supply chain bottleneck is the other. “IPS imports were low this year, but the combination of extreme heat and fear of power shortages sent demand through the roof,” explains Tarek Hossain, Managing Director of MB International at Gulistan.
Tarek points to a critical shortage of battery raw materials as the primary culprit. “Even the most basic components are becoming luxuries,” he says. “Imports have been hit hard by global conflict. A jar of distilled water that once sold for Tk500 now costs a staggering Tk3,500.”
Arifur Rahman Bhuiyan, Senior Product Manager at Hamco Corporation, observes that while a summer spike in IPS demand is typical, the current market is in uncharted territory. “The demand has increased several times over,” he noted, highlighting a shift from seasonal preference to desperate necessity.
Industry insiders estimate the national appetite for IPS units at approximately 1,00,000 pieces annually.
While household names like Rahimafrooz, Hamco, Navana, and Philips continue to lead, domestic manufacturers are aggressively scaling up to fill the gaps.
Meanwhile, the narrow lanes of Kaptanbazar are buzzing with interest in Indian imports, specifically brands like Luminous, Microtek, and Livguard.
This surge is rippling far beyond the capital. Rural retailers are now descending on Dhaka in droves to secure stock for their communities.
“Since the power crisis began, load shedding has become a permanent fixture in our lives,” says Towhidur Islam Akash, a businessman from Ghior, Manikganj.
He spends his days coordinating with Dhaka suppliers to ensure a steady stream of battery-powered TVs and solar lights reaches his village.
In Magura, trader Abed Ali shares the same anxiety. “In our upazila, the outages are relentless. Once the sun goes down, the lack of electricity makes even basic movement difficult,” he explains.
For the families he serves, “fuel insecurity” has moved from a headline to a daily household concern.
Parallel to the IPS boom, solar power equipment is seeing a massive uptick in sales. Mohammad Shaon, who works in Dhaka, recently scoured the market for panels to send to his family in Bogura.
“I’m anxious,” he admitted. “With the way load shedding is escalating, summer will be unbearable for my family. Solar is my way of protecting them.”
Another buyer, Mainuddin, put it even more bluntly: “I don’t see any other option. In the villages, the power is already failing. Solar power is the only guarantee we have left.”
To meet this demand, the market has pivoted toward “ready-to-install” packages designed for non-technical users.
Rather than hunting for individual parts, customers are opting for all-in-one bundles.
A typical 100-watt solar package, for example, includes a panel with a 20-year guarantee, a 30-ampere battery, cabling, a charge controller, and a set of LED bulbs and fans.
As temperatures soar and the national grid buckles under peak demand, the scramble for these alternative energy solutions shows no signs of slowing.
For thousands of Bangladeshis, these technologies have transcended the status of convenience, they are now essential safeguards against an increasingly dark and uncertain future.
