Energy crisis is a big issue for any country’s development. Recent war in ME has created new dimension in the energy sector all over the world. Bangladesh is no exception too. It’s a trending topic of discussion in all community, all gatherings and in all sector of life. We are getting many advices, recommendations, suggestions, dos and don’ts. How far all these are practically applicable for us.
Let’s see when solar energy was first used by human. It is as early as 7th century BC when people used to use sunlight to light fires with magnifying glass. In 3rd BC the Greeks and Romans used solar power with mirrors to light torches for religious ceremonies. Another early use of solar energy was the concept of Sunrooms in buildings. In recent time, first photovoltaic (PV) cell is invented in 1954. In 1973, University of Delaware constructed first solar building, named “Solar One”.
In 1979, President Jimmy Carter instructed to install solar panels in White House. In modern days (2000 to present), cost of solar system has reduced a lot and one of the cheapest sources of electricity comparing with other sources. Research is on reduce the cost further and increase the efficiency of the panels (PV) and invertors.
According to IEA and IRENA data’2026, solar PV has become the world’s fastest-growing major power technology. In 2025, global solar PV capacity additions exceeded 600 GW, roughly bringing cumulative global solar PV capacity to 2800 GW. Presently, few leading successful countries in use of solar energy are China, USA, India, Germany, Japan and Australia. Current picture of solar energy in these countries are as following:
If we analyze the initial starting, their obstacles and methods to overcome of above successful leading countries then we may find out a road map for us. Or else, we will be hearing various suggestions and advices from various corners and will get confused. More so, we are very good in suggesting others. Many of those prescriptions are found to be biased and having some immediate or long-term gains of some vested corners. Same happened in previous regime. Now we creep, our economy struggles paying capacity charges to different power plants. Initially German solar electricity was far more expensive than conventional price. Nobody was volunteer to buy large amount of it. Thus govt. created a mechanism where a solar produce could receive a guaranteed price for electricity fed into the grid. It was named as famous “Feed in tariff approach”. In China, initially solar technology was expensive and China did not dominate the PV supply chain. Gradually they created domestic capability to create economies of scale. China did not treat solar as an electricity project rather as an industrial development strategy.
USA followed a different path. Initially their solar could not compete directly with cheap fossil fuel electricity. So, they invested heavily in research, tax incentives, private investment and large-scale deployment. Initially India had several problems, especially expensive solar equipment, weak transformation infrastructure, limited investor confidence, expensive financing. They responded through establishing Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission, large solar parks, competitive auctions and private-solar participation. Japan had limited land with enormous dependence on energy. So, they emphasized on rooftop and distributed PV rather than enormous solar parks. They overcame all difficulties through R&D, subsidies and rooftop deployment. Like other countries solar was expensive in Australia for an individual household. Government incentives reduced the upfront burden, thus more households adopted solar and created a large market. Key point to note here that these countries did not wait for solar system to become cheap rather they created the conditions that allowed solar to become cheap.
As per BPDA report of FY2024-25, annual grid electricity consumption of Bangladesh is 91.2 TWh, Solar PV generation is 1,222 GWh and Solar’s share generation is only 1.21%. Comparing with other countries we are far behind. But Bangladesh is very lucky that we can learn from the above mentioned six major countries first 20-30 years’ experience and involve ourselves to the mature stage of the technology. We have already received Remarkable Energy Policy 2025; our directive says renewable energy should meet 20 per cent of national power demand by 2030 and 30% by 2040. So, we need to pursue aggressively to achieve the target. Since solar is the most prospective renewable resource, so it should be the backbone of this programme.
At present, solar projects can be treated too much as individual projects. Instead, a Central National Solar Energy Management Cell in coordination with SREDS, BPDB, PGCB and distribution utilities should be established. Solar distribution may be divided into four segments; Rooftop solar with CAPEX/OPEX module with net-metering, Utility scale solar with large solar parks, Industrial solar for factories and lastly Solar in combination with battery storage especially for evening peak, industrial loads, grid stabilization and critical government facilities, introducing competitive solar auctions to find out lowest viable tariff, establishing Solar Land Bank with unused government land, railway land, embankments, char lands, floating solar etc. But indiscriminate conversion of agricultural land into solar parks must be avoided. The central lesson from China, India, USA, Japan, Germany and Australia is clear. Bangladesh must not only copy any foreign model. Our government should prioritize transparent, accountable, value-added and competitive procurement rather than unsolicited projects. We must parallelly develop solar generation, storage, transmission, forecasting, financing, competitive procurement and private sector participation. This integrated approach can make solar a major pillar for energy security and industrial competitiveness of Bangladesh by 2040.
Dr Brigadier General Munir is CEO of TRIPAX Solar Energy. He did his Ph.D on “Public Procurement”. Now driving sustainable solutions in solar energy sector in Bangladesh.
Dr Sania Binte Mahtab is Assistant Professor of Water Resource Engineering Department, BUET. She did her Ph.D on “Water Resource Development” and actively pursuing research on Renewable Energy Nexus.
