Dhaka, April 10 -- The net benefit the country has received from the Solar Home System (SHS) is about US$1.7 billion, the World Bank (WB) has estimated. The SHS that started as a pilot scheme in 2003 with help from the WB in the country's remote areas is now the world's largest off-grid solar power programme. It has created a few beneficiaries over the years. Notable among them are 4.0 million rural households, who would not have electricity otherwise, and who have gained much from it. The net financial benefit accrued by these households using the SHS is worth US$1.35 billion.

The monetary gain means a lot to these poor households who live in remote char areas where grid electricity supply is not available. But what has been more import...