Rooftop solar plan needs pilot run: CPD

The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) yesterday urged the government to select around 450-500 rooftops of government buildings, schools and hospitals for piloting a "National Rooftop Solar Programme" (NRSP) before expanding it.

Such piloting should be based on radiation impacts, availability of finances in different government divisions, grid readiness, and areas facing major power outages, it said.

The suggestion came at a briefing titled "NRSP: Proposals on the Design, Implementation, and Monitoring and Evaluation" organised by the CPD at its office.

The interim government recently undertook the NRSP, aiming to generate around 3,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity using the rooftops of all government office buildings, schools and hospitals within the next three to six months.

"If we go for a full phase without piloting, there would be a mess," said Helen Mashiyat Preoty, a senior research associate at the CPD, while presenting the keynote paper.

The piloting must specify the roof being used, as such state buildings are present throughout all unions in the country, she said.

This will help generate specific data and subsequently determine the full potential for generating solar power in a region and, afterwards, throughout the country, she added.

The think tank called for urgent, multisectoral reforms to increase the generation of renewable energy and recommended exempting all sorts of customs and import duties, VAT and taxes on solar panels, batteries and inverters.

The CPD recommended updating the existing net metering guidelines to reflect current investment costs, grid capacity and demand.

Net metering is a billing system that allows individuals or businesses with on-site renewable energy generation, like solar panels, to receive credit on their electricity bills for any excess electricity they send back to the grid.

The policy allows the consumer to connect rooftop solar to the grid but caps the net metering limit at 70 percent of the load sanctioned for that facility.

This cap, the CPD argues, disincentivises commercial and industrial users who could otherwise supply surplus power to the grid.

They proposed introducing a feed-in tariff system, where renewable energy generators, like those with solar panels, receive a set price for each unit of electricity they produce and send to the grid.

The briefing highlighted coordination failures among the state-run Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (Sreda), Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), and various electricity distribution companies.

These institutions often operate independently, with limited communication, collaboration, or information sharing, delaying approvals and creating unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles.

To overcome this, the CPD recommended a unified institutional framework that would align efforts among the key actors involved in rooftop solar panel deployment.

It also stressed the need for institutional capacity building and training programmes for utility service officials, engineers and inspectors to expedite project approvals and inspections.

The CPD stressed that financing remains one of the most critical barriers to scaling rooftop solar power generation.

Many banks are reluctant to provide loans to residential or small-scale commercial consumers due to a perceived lack of repayment guarantees and absence of property documentation.

To address this, the CPD called for a financing framework that includes concessional loans, interest subsidies and credit guarantee schemes.

The government and Bangladesh Bank should play a more proactive role in facilitating affordable green financing, it said.

The CPD urged the government to support local manufacturing of key components such as solar panels and inverters, which could be done through tax holidays, import duty waivers on raw materials, and export incentives.

The think tank recommended establishing a centralised database to track rooftop solar installations, monitor real-time performance, and assess environmental and economic impacts.

The CPD also emphasised the importance of multi-stakeholder engagement, including collaborations among private sector developers, financial institutions, local governments and civil society.

During the briefing, Md Nasir Uddin, a member of the Bangladesh Sustainable and Renewable Energy Association, a platform of businesses and NGOs, delivered another presentation.

In it, he suggested going for public-private partnerships (PPP) for the rooftop solar panel installation process.

There is only one such PPP project in the country, generating 1 MW since March 2024. Working with West Zone Power Distribution Company, the roof owner has been saving around Tk 1.5 lakh a month, he said.

"We can expand this financing process to engage more of the private sector in this sector," he said.

"It will require the government or Bangladesh Bank to approve a special loan scheme for the National Rooftop Solar Programme with no more than 3 percent interest rate for a 15-year tenure," said Uddin.

Moniruzzaman, director of the renewable energy research and development directorate of the BPDB, said solar power generation involves fluctuations in output.

This would lead to grid instability, meaning the inability to maintain a stable and reliable flow of electricity. But power distributors have processes to mitigate that instability, he said.

Md Muzibur Rahman, director for renewable energy development at Sreda, said the government was very serious about implementing the NRSP.

He said the circular on the programme did not mention anything about the operation and maintenance issues, but that would be delineated in the tender documents.

"If we maintain the machinery properly with trained manpower, it will be a great experience for us," he said.

They have talked with officials of different banks who informed them that they are interested in refinancing such projects and not in directly financing them, he said.

Sardar Mohammad Zafrul Hasan, chief engineer at Power Grid Bangladesh PLC, which manages the central power grid and supplies to the power distribution companies, said solar power output fluctuated more than any other source of renewable energy.

For this, grid stability—meaning balancing the supply of energy with consumption—will be a great challenge, he said.

"But we have taken the measures for mitigating the risks," he said, adding that they have taken projects which would maintain the frequencies and voltage issues.

CPD Research Director Khondaker Golam Moazzem moderated the event.

BSREA President Mostafa Al Mahmud, Khondaker Morshed Millat, former director of Bangladesh Bank's Sustainable Finance Division, and Geosolar Bangladesh Limited Managing Director Nazneen Akhter also spoke.