Asaduzzaman, M.Samad, Hussain A.Yunus, MohammadKhandker, Shahidur R.2014-02-052014-02-052013-12https://hdl.handle.net/10986/16939The Government of Bangladesh, with help from the World Bank and other donors, has provided aid to a local agency called Infrastructure Development Company Limited and its partner organizations to devise a credit scheme for marketing solar home system units and making these an affordable alternative to grid electricity for poor people in remote areas. This paper uses household survey data to examine the financing scheme behind the dissemination of these solar home systems, in particular the role of the subsidy; the factors that determine the adoption of the systems in rural Bangladesh; and the welfare impacts of such adoption. The paper finds that while the subsidy has been declining over time, the demand for solar home systems has seen phenomenal growth, mostly because of technological developments that have made the systems increasingly more affordable. Households with better physical and educational endowments are more likely to adopt solar home systems than poor households. The price of the system matters in household decision making -- a 10 percent decline in the price of the system increases the overall demand for a solar panel by 2 percent. As for the benefits, adoption of a solar home system improves children s evening study time, lowers kerosene consumption, and provides health benefits for household members, in particular for women. It is also found to increase women's decision-making ability in certain household affairs. Finally, it is found to increase household consumption expenditure, although at a small scale.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO ELECTRICITYACCESS TO MODERN ENERGYAGRICULTUREAIRAIR POLLUTIONALTERNATIVE FUELSALTERNATIVE METHODAPPROACHAVAILABILITYAVERAGE HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTIONAVERAGE PRICEBACKUP POWERBASE YEARBATTERIESBIOMASSCALCULATIONCARBON DIOXIDECARBON EMISSIONCLIMATECLIMATE CHANGECOALCONSUMER SURPLUSCONSUMERSCONSUMPTION OF ENERGYCONSUMPTION PATTERNSCONTROLLED PRICESCOOKINGCOST EFFECTIVENESSCROPCROP RESIDUEDECISION MAKINGDEMAND FOR ELECTRICITYDEVELOPMENT POLICYDRY CELL BATTERIESDUNGECONOMETRICSELECTRIC GENERATIONELECTRIC GRIDELECTRIC POWERELECTRICITY CONSUMPTIONELECTRICITY GENERATIONELECTRIFICATIONEMISSIONEMISSION OF CARBONEMPLOYMENTENERGY CONSUMPTIONENERGY DEMANDENERGY FORMENERGY GENERATIONENERGY POLICYENERGY REQUIREMENTSENERGY SERVICESENERGY SOURCEENERGY SOURCESFOSSILFOSSIL FUELSFUEL COLLECTIONFUEL WOODGENERATION OF ELECTRICITYGRID AREASGRID ELECTRICITYGRID ELECTRIFICATIONHOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTIONHOUSEHOLD INCOMEHOUSEHOLD LIGHTINGKEROSENEKEROSENE CONSUMPTIONKEROSENE LAMPSLAND OWNERSHIPNATIONAL ELECTRICITY GRIDSOILPER CAPITA CONSUMPTIONPHOTOVOLTAIC TECHNOLOGYPHOTOVOLTAICSPOLICY MAKERSPOLLUTIONPOLLUTION LEVELSPOSITIVE EXTERNALITYPOWERPOWER GENERATIONPOWER PROGRAMPOWER SECTORPRICE EFFECTPRICE ELASTICITYPRICE INCREASESPRIMARY FUELPRODUCTION FUNCTIONQUALITY ENERGYRENEWABLE ENERGYRURAL AREASRURAL ELECTRIFICATIONRURAL HOUSEHOLDRURAL HOUSEHOLDSSMOKESOLAR ELECTRICITYSOLAR ELECTRIFICATIONSOLAR ENERGYSOLAR HOMESOLAR HOME SYSTEMSOLAR HOME SYSTEMSSOLAR PANELSOLAR PANELSSOLAR POWERSOLAR POWER GENERATIONSOLAR SYSTEMSUBSTITUTE FUELSUBSTITUTIONSUSTAINABLE ENERGYVILLAGE LEVELWEALTHWOOD BIOMASSWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-6724