A description of human resource development in the Solar Home System industry in Bangladesh

Bangladesh has seen a proliferation of Solar Home Systems in off-grid areas as a substitute for grid electricity. The Solar Home System manufacturing industry is a technology intensive industry, but the labor intensive stages of the industry have found a niche in Bangladesh. Companies in Bangladesh are now manufacturing some of the components of the SHS, and they employ local human resource for the assembly activities. This paper aims to analyze at which stages of the supply chain of the SHS industry are Bangladeshi companies adding value, and what type of human resource is necessary to capture more of the value addition chain. The study has revealed that Bangladeshi companies import the component parts and raw materials and locally assemble them into the complete SHS units. The marketing, installation and servicing of the systems is also done by local staff. The technology intensive stages of the value addition chain, like research and development, and the manufacture of the solar cells, take place abroad. More technically skilled and knowledgeable personnel must be trained to keep up with current and expect industry demand.