Bangladesh can achieve its target of generating 5,500MW of electricity from rooftop solar by 2030 if it can overcome financial, technical and security-related challenges in installing solar panels at homes and industrial establishments, policymakers and renewable energy experts said today.
The government is now aiming to add 3,000-4,000MW of rooftop solar capacity before next summer as it seeks to ease the country’s energy crisis amid escalating tensions in the Middle East. To accelerate the initiative, it is considering financial incentives, legal protection and easier access to loans for households and businesses.
At a seminar titled “Domestic and Industrial Rooftop Solar: Ensuring Energy Security and Creating Employment” on the closing day of Solar Expo 2026, speakers said mobilising investment and ensuring the quality of solar equipment would be crucial to making the programme successful.
Power Division Secretary Mirana Mahrukh said the government was preparing a new law to provide legal protection to rooftop solar investors, alongside financial and security support.
The Finance Ministry has already allocated Tk 1,500 crore to promote rooftop solar, while the government is seeking additional funds from development partners to ensure easy financing for households and industries, she said.
The World Bank has pledged $500 million, while another $500 million is expected from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). The government is also trying to persuade the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to establish a dedicated development fund for the initiative, she added.
Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) Chairman Engineer Rezaul Karim said achieving 3,000-4,000MW of rooftop solar capacity before the next peak irrigation season in March and April would not be an uphill task.
However, he identified financing and technical preparedness as the two major challenges.
The government has announced a feed-in tariff of Tk 10.50 per unit for rooftop solar electricity for three years, but ensuring effective net metering remains a major challenge for the BPDB, he said.
Under net metering, consumers can feed surplus electricity generated by their rooftop solar systems into the national grid and receive credit for it against their electricity consumption.
Rezaul Karim said the BPDB had already taken steps to simplify the process by reducing the time required to process net-metering applications and converting single-phase and three-phase meters into bidirectional meters.
He also advised prospective rooftop solar investors to make provisions for battery storage equivalent to at least 20 percent of their system capacity. This would help them avoid grid-related complications and secure three to four hours of electricity after sunset, he said.
In his keynote paper, Md Enamul Karim, head of renewable energy at Infrastructure Development Company Ltd (IDCOL), said Bangladesh had the potential to generate at least 30,000MW of rooftop solar electricity if half of its pucca and semi-pucca households were brought under the programme.
He said second-, third- and fourth-tier electricity consumers could benefit particularly from rooftop solar, with their per-unit electricity costs falling to Tk 6.50 from Tk 8.93-Tk 10.10 for conventional fossil-fuel-based electricity.
Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) Managing Director Md Fazlul Kader said his organisation would provide financial support for household rooftop solar installations through its partner organisations, which have experience in implementing similar projects across the country.
He, however, stressed the need for strict monitoring to ensure the quality of solar equipment, warning that poor-quality installations could undermine the programme’s sustainability.
Private investment should also flow into the sector without excessive dependence on government incentives, he said, cautioning that an incentive-driven approach alone could distort the market.
SM Anisuzzaman, chief executive officer of Bangladesh Infrastructure Finance Fund Ltd (BIFFL), a state-owned financing agency, said financing should not be a major obstacle, as the organisation had already extended funds to private power producers.
Apart from government support, businesses should have access to long-term loans at low interest rates, he said. Industries could also adopt the operating expenditure (OPEX) model, under which a third-party investor installs and operates rooftop solar systems on factory premises.
Speaking at the seminar, Dipal Chandra Barua, chairman of Bright Green Energy Foundation, said households should be encouraged to generate their own electricity, as the government otherwise had to bear the financial burden of costly power generation.
He said the proposed renewable energy ordinance could provide a major boost to the sector and welcomed the decision to offer a feed-in tariff of Tk 10.50 per unit for rooftop solar electricity.
Sheikh Tofael Ahmed, additional managing director of Super Star Group, said interest in household and industrial rooftop solar had gained considerable momentum over the past few months following the government’s announcement of the programme.
SM Monirul Islam, acting managing director of IDCOL, moderated the seminar, held at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre on the concluding day of the two-day Solar Expo 2026.