ABSTRACT
As per the International Energy Agency, around 1.3 billion people do not have access to electricity, mainly people living in the rural regions of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Incidentally, just about 5% of sub-Saharan Africa has access to energy. Electricity consumption in this region is only as much as in the state of New York. Importantly enough, the challenge of energy accessibility must be viewed in terms of availability as well as affordability for individuals and communities. A good thing about renewables is that renewable energies (REs) such as wind, solar or biomass are available in small units, that is as solar cells or wind turbines. This makes their construction and maintenance fairly straightforward. Over time, the costs for solar, wind and renewable biomass have dropped down significantly. Importantly, some countries have already made remarkable inroads in distributing RE technologies. Take for instance a small country like Bangladesh where more than 80,000 solar home systems are being installed month after month in rural off-grid areas. The RE sector in Bangladesh has employed as many as 200,000 personnel.
