A group of eight students from the Robert H. Smith School of Business (including three MBAs) participated in a one-week mission to Bangladesh with the World Bank. As part of a World Bank feasibility study, the team was charged with putting together a set of possible financing strategies that would take the micro-grid model to scale.
During their trip, the students studied the possibilities of expanding the provision of electricity to rural communities through solar energy micro-grids. Based in Dhaka, the group worked with Solaric, a company that strives to provide affordable renewable energy for Bangladeshi communities off the grid, in using innovative technology and a decentralized billing process.
Students visited Kapasia, Solaric’s pilot village, and were introduced to the product and its benefits for the first time like the reduction of the local poultry factory’s electric bill by over 50 percent.
“What makes [Solaric’s] business model innovative is that they would be moving from solar home system products to a community-based grid that would require less initial capital expenditures from end consumers,” says MBA student Rodrigo Velasquez.
Through their time in Bangladesh, the students had access to other organizations that provided feedback on Solaric’s strategies and the students’ project in particular, including BRAC, the world’s largest NGO; the International Finance Corporation (IFC); Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL), a government owned financing institution; and the Yunus Center, the Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus’ organization.
“We were all very excited to meet [Nobel Laureate] Dr. Yunus. It is a precious experience for us to meet the most celebrated personnel in Bangladesh,” said Tao Wang, a 2014 Masters of Finance candidate. “With the fame of Nobel Prize and the devotion in helping the rural areas, Dr. Yunus’ insights will be a shining add-on to our project.”
Students also met with the government’s ministry of power, energy and mineral resources, before a final sit-down with Solaric’s CEO Didar Islam to discuss elements of their valuation models. To read more about the group and their time in abroad, you can read team members Mandy Liu and Menglin Wang daily activity logs on the Smith website.
