Fozle Rabbi has all of the comforts of a modern home. He owns a range of appliances and electronic devices that keep his family cool, fed, and entertained. However, the constant blackouts caused by an unreliable power supply prevent Fozle from using many of these devices when he needs them most. When blackouts occur, Fozle and his family are forced to endure stifling and dangerous temperatures without modern cooling equipment.

Motivated to secure a more reliable power supply, Fozle installed a solar home system (SHS) on his rooftop and purchased four DC table fans from Super Star, a leading and manufacturer, importer and marketer of electrical accessories and equipment.

In a warming world, electric fans can reduce mortality and morbidity during severe heat waves by preventing elevations in heart rate and core temperature driven by high temperatures.

Bangladesh has seen a significant increase in average temperatures in the last 60 years and is expected to experience 2.8 degrees Celsius of warming in the next four decades. As temperatures rise and the frequency of extremely hot days and nights rise, fans will play a larger role in helping communities adapt to a changing climate.

Customer survey results from over 1,600 off-grid fan purchasers confirm the high impact potential of energy-efficient off-grid fans in Bangladesh. Data show significant gains in productivity, health, and energy access at the household level, and opportunities for fans to play a large role in broader market creation efforts for energy-efficient off-grid appliances.

For Fozle, his solar home system and fans provide an added layer of security. Unlike poorer rural households that may not be able to afford off-grid appliances, affluent households like Fozle’s see owning a SHS appliance package as a necessity to continuing enjoying a service that they are already accustomed to.

Fozle no longer has to worry about when power will return during a blackout. He now has access to the appliances he needs to stay comfortable and safe throughout the day. “I enjoy my afternoon reading while cooling down with the fan”, Fozle stated as his small table fan hummed quietly in the background.

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About the Global LEAP Awards Customer Spotlight Series

The Global LEAP Awards is an international competition to identify and promote the world’s best off-grid appliances, accelerating market development and innovation. This unique program has evolved into a trusted global brand that serves as the de facto source of accurate, actionable information about the quality and energy performance of off-grid appliances, with support from Power Africa, UK aid, Energising Development, Powering Agriculture, and USAID, and in partnership with the Efficiency for Access Coalition.

This series tells stories collected through interviews with off-grid appliances customers who purchased their product through a Global LEAP Awards results-based financing (RBF) mechanism. Through its RBF, CLASP supported the delivery and enhancement of energy access for over one million beneficiaries across Bangladesh and East Africa. In Bangladesh alone, the RBF mechanism supported sales of about 194,000 energy-efficient off-grid fans and 7,000 best-in-class solar TVs. The series sheds new light on the impact, and thereby the real socio-economic value, of off-grid fans and TVs to appliance consumers in critical appliance markets like Bangladesh.