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Grameen Shakti Presents Rural-Based Solar Home System Model At WIREC
Washington DC (SPX) Mar 07, 2008 Grameen Shakti sent its founder and managing director, Dipal Barua, to Washington this week to explain the companys model to World Bank officials and to representatives of developing countries attending the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC). The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) invited Barua to WIREC to share Grameen Shaktis strategy for improving the lives of more than one million people in Bangladesh through solar energy systems, biogas digesters and improved cook stoves. USAID grants and World Bank funds have enabled Grameen Shakti to provide less expensive services and reach more poor people. Since the Grameen Bank launched the non-profit Grameen Shakti (shakti means energy in Bengali) in 1996, the pioneering organization has installed more than 130,000 solar energy systems in Bangladesh. It installs nearly 5,000 more systems every month. The solar home systems typically consist of small photovoltaic panels connected to a battery for storage. Nearly 70 percent of Bangladeshi households are not connected to the national grid and rely on kerosene for lighting. For the price they would normally pay for kerosene, Grameen Shakti clients are buying clean, solar electric lighting systems and using the energy to operate small appliances and charge their mobile phones, Barua said. Grameen Shakti offers customers unique programs to ensure their satisfaction, including warranties, maintenance contracts, and buy-back methods. Grameen Technology Centers train women technicians in rural areas who make a living marketing and installing solar home systems. Grameen Shakti also has introduced biogas and improved cook stoves, two other clean technologies that save money and reduce pollution. The company provides small, microcredit loans to Bangladeshis to purchase these technologies, which are used in business, schools, health clinics, and homes. The company has installed more than 3,000 biogas systems and puts in another 400 systems monthly. Every month, Grameen Shakti is also installing more than 1,000 improved cook stoves in homes and institutions. Replacing unvented, inefficient stoves that pose fire hazards, the improved versions save firewood, reduce smoke, and cut fuel consumption in half. We are finding many developing countries that want to replicate the Grameen Shakti model, Barua said. The World Bank also is interested in introducing Grameen Shaktis improved cook stoves in other developing countries to reduce indoor pollution. The fastest growing renewable energy company in world, Grameen Shakti expects to reach one million installations by 2015. Related Links Grameen Shakti All About Solar Energy at SolarDaily.com
REC Solar Opens Oregon Operations
San Luis Obispo CA (SPX) Mar 07, 2008REC Solar has announced it is opening sales offices in Portland, Oregon. The San Luis Obispo, California-based company said it would focus on selling commercial solar electric installations to businesses throughout the state. |
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