1. Issues Raised and solutions proposed 1 “A private sector energy company (ESCO) would never make this investment because they would not see a profitable opportunity in selling power to the rural community”. Comment: It is already happening. There are hundreds of such ESCO’s selling electricity to shops in village markets in Bangladesh. Problem: Shopkeeper is paying US$0.35/kWhr while the urban customer is paying US$0.05/kWhr Solution: Find existing ESCO’s and attract them to offer solar solutions to save fuel and therefore make supply sustainable.

2. Issues Raised and solutions proposed, contd. 2 “The model proposes that the generation capacity of the publicly provided solar panels should suffice only to provide lighting to public areas of the rural community, e.g. school, clinic, community center, house of worship, street lighting.” Comment: Not a good idea. How would you sustain this after the initial support runs out? Problem: Citizens are not willing to pay for public service if they themselves cannot benefit from it. Solution: Find cooperative models where beneficiaries pay for the services they receive. Example: Irrigation cooperatives in Bangladesh run by LGED.

3. Discussion Dr. Saifur Rahman srahman@vt.edu srahman@akashsolar.com