User Perspectives of Photovoltaic Micro utility Systems Installed at the Rural Areas in Bangladesh

Abstract

Photovoltaic micro utility (PV MU) systems are feasible both technically and financially in Bangladesh. This paper presents the user opinions towards photovoltaic micro utilities installed at rural areas in Bangladesh as user acceptance could lead to the further expansion of these systems to meet electricity requirements at the rural areas.Five point Likert scale is employed to determine the user acceptance of the PV MU system. Impacts of PV MU on the social life of the users are also discussed to elucidate the changes in social life of the users after using these systems.  Users were mostly pleased about the systems and were happy to obtain 700 lumens from PV lamps in place of 76 lumens of kerosene lamps.  They were also satisfied about the reduction of kerosene consumption and reduced environmental impact, tenure of power supply, systems reliability and safety of the systems. The average kerosene saved by 40, 50, 60-65 and 80-85 Wp systems were around 15.20, 20.16, 22.48,32 liter/month respectively. They agreed that their access to the information, amount of sales and working opportunity increased after installing PV MU system. It also provided them very easy communication with their customers and suppliers, and increased their comfort.

Keywords

• Rural electrification, PV micro utility, User perception, Bangladesh.