Rooftop solar power offers lifeline to industries amid gas crisis, high tariffs
Shahriar Azam . Dhaka
Rooftop solar power is emerging as a financial lifeline for Bangladesh’s energy-intensive industries, helping factories reduce electricity costs and maintain production amid persistent natural gas shortages, frequent load-shedding and rising electricity tariffs.
Manufacturers in major industrial hubs, including Gazipur, Savar, Narayanganj and Chattogram, are increasingly turning to solar photovoltaic systems to reduce their dependence on grid electricity and fossil-fuel-based captive power generation.
The shift comes as declining gas pressure has disrupted industrial production, forcing many factories to rely on diesel generators to maintain operations at significantly higher costs.
Industrial consumers pay around Tk 14–17 per kilowatt-hour for grid electricity, while electricity generated by diesel generators can cost up to Tk 30 per unit. In comparison, rooftop solar can deliver electricity at an estimated levelised cost of Tk 5–7.5 per unit over a system’s operational life of around 25 years.
Industry experts said rooftop solar could therefore help manufacturers lower production costs, improve energy security and meet the growing environmental requirements of international buyers.
Power Division Secretary Mirana Mahrukh said on Sunday that the government was promoting the operational expenditure model to encourage private investment in rooftop solar.
Under this model, third-party investors can install solar panels on the rooftops of public and private institutions without requiring the building owners to make an upfront investment.
The arrangement could make solar power more accessible to smaller factories that lack the capital to install their own systems.
Under the net-metering framework, eligible consumers can also feed surplus electricity into the national grid, allowing them to receive credits against their electricity bills in accordance with applicable regulations.
Hasan Mehedi, member secretary of the Bangladesh Working Group on Ecology and Development, said each kilowatt of installed solar capacity could save Tk 29,600–31,300 annually in furnace oil imports and reduce carbon emissions by around 1.4 tonnes.
For factories requiring uninterrupted electricity, solar can operate alongside grid connections and captive generators, reducing fuel consumption without necessarily replacing existing power sources.
A study by the Centre for Policy Dialogue found that rooftop solar could meet a median 40 per cent of electricity demand at large factories, 33 per cent at medium-sized factories and 38 per cent at small factories.
The study estimated a combined rooftop solar potential of 1,768 megawatt-peak across 3,320 factories, highlighting the scope for expanding distributed renewable energy in the industrial sector.
Ha-Meem Group has emerged as an example of large-scale industrial adoption. The group installed 12.2MWp of rooftop solar across 10 units in 2024, investing approximately Tk 54 crore through concessional financing. A subsequent phase added around 16.9–17MWp in 2026.
At its Kaliganj facility, solar power reportedly meets the entire daytime electricity load between 10:00am and 3:00pm. Load-shedding on the relevant feeder was also discontinued, illustrating the potential operational benefits of large rooftop solar installations.
The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis said rooftop solar had become the dominant source of distributed energy resources in Bangladesh and was already contributing to a slight reduction in daytime electricity demand.
Government data showed that rooftop solar capacity stood at 418.1MW as of June 2026. IEEFA, however, estimated that installations across 239 establishments, including groups of companies, had reached 667MW.
The country’s total rooftop solar capacity could approach 1,000MW if smaller installations below 0.15MW were included, according to the estimates.
Shafiqul Alam, lead energy analyst at IEEFA, said Bangladesh’s industrial sector alone had the potential to add several thousand megawatts of rooftop solar capacity if policy and financing barriers were addressed.
The expansion could also help reduce pressure on the power system during daytime hours and limit reliance on expensive fossil-fuel imports.
Despite the economic advantages, high upfront costs, financing constraints and administrative delays continue to hinder wider adoption of rooftop solar.
Bangladesh Sustainable and Renewable Energy Association President Mostafa Al Mahmud said import permissions under the 1 per cent duty facility had enabled the import of around 88MW of solar panels and inverters and 4.5 megawatt-hours of batteries in September.
In October, permissions were issued for 120MW of solar panels and inverters and 10 megawatt-hours of batteries, he added.
However, financing remained a major bottleneck, Al Mahmud said, stressing the need for wider access to concessional loans and predictable policies to accelerate solar deployment and battery storage.
Access to affordable financing is particularly important for small and medium-sized enterprises, which often struggle to mobilise the capital required for installation despite the prospect of lower electricity bills over time.
Battery storage could further increase the usefulness of solar power by storing surplus daytime generation for use when sunlight is unavailable. However, storage adds to project costs, making financing arrangements and suitable policies important for its wider adoption.
The economic case for rooftop solar is reinforced by the growing emphasis on decarbonisation in global supply chains.
International garment brands are placing greater importance on emissions reduction and environmental performance among their suppliers. For Bangladesh’s export-oriented apparel and textile industries, adopting renewable energy can therefore help reduce operating costs while strengthening compliance with buyers’ sustainability requirements.
Rooftop solar also offers a way to reduce emissions associated with electricity consumption and fossil-fuel-based captive generation.
Industry experts argue that Bangladesh’s extensive factory rooftops represent a largely unexplored resource for clean electricity. Faster deployment could reduce fuel imports, ease daytime pressure on the national grid and improve the competitiveness of export-oriented manufacturers.
However, achieving the sector’s potential will require coordinated action to improve access to finance, simplify approval procedures, ensure the quality of imported equipment and provide stable policy support.
As domestic gas production declines and industrial consumers face persistent supply constraints and high electricity costs, rooftop solar is increasingly becoming more than an environmental investment. For many factories, it offers a practical route to lower energy expenses, more reliable daytime operations and greater resilience against disruptions in the country’s energy supply.
Bangladesh Defense
