Despite energy crisis, Bangladesh’s factories are slow to adopt solar power: Study

A study funded by the International Growth Centre finds that 69% of surveyed garment factories in Gazipur and Savar have not adopted renewable energy, mostly rooftop solar, despite Bangladesh's ongoing fuel crisis and rising electricity bills.

Among the 31% that have installed solar, capacity is low and half of the installations don't even feed into production processes. Nearly 94% of adopters paid for it entirely out of pocket, with no bank loans, green funds, or buyer subsidies involved.

Factory owners cite high installation costs, bureaucratic financing delays at institutions like IDCOL, and steep import duties on mounting hardware and battery storage even as duties on panels themselves have dropped. Larger, certified factories like Ha-Meem Group and Plummy Fashions have made solar work, while small and micro-factories remain almost entirely dependent on the grid.

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