Deepto celebrates 10 years of installing solar systems in CHT area
Ten years back in 2011, Deepto launched its project "Solar Home Systems" to provide electricity in the marginalised communities living in Chattogram Hill Tracts (CHT) area.
On the occasion of the International Day of Light on 16th May, Deepto installed Solar Home Systems free of cost in these off-grid areas.
A total of 2591 solar home systems were installed across 25 villages of Bandarban, Khagrachhari and Rangamati districts, reads a press release.
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Since its inception, Deepto has provided access to electricity through solar power to more than 15,000 beneficiaries.
The initiative generated numerous benefits including the empowerment of women through several income generating activities at night such as sewing clothes, making handicrafts, knitting, processing turmeric etc. After the installation of the Deepto units, students were relieved of studying using meager kerosene lamps which often caused harm to their eyes. Deepto has enabled them to study longer hours and excel in education. Moreover, families have also benefited from the extra cash which would otherwise have been spent on buying kerosene.
Mohammad Alauddin, Additional Secretary and the Chairman of Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA), said, "Everyone who works for the development and expansion of renewable energy is our companion. We are happy to know that 'Deepto' has completed its ten years of endeavor in the renewable energy sector and has brought electricity to the people in remote hilly areas. Congratulating Deepto, he added, "We hope that in the future Deepto's horizon will be expanded to other sectors including agriculture"
The project has been awarded the internationally acclaimed 'Asia Responsible Entrepreneurship Award-2018' for delivering solar power to the poverty-stricken communities in the hilly areas.
In the coming years, Deepto will focus more on the usage of renewable energy across new sectors like agriculture, the press statement added.
