Use of solar power on boats goes down

The first houseboat in Tanguar Haor, located in Sunamganj, was named Abhiyyatri-1. This houseboat came with modern facilities and was powered by solar panels. It ran completely on solar power for more than two years. Tourists who stayed overnight on the boat would charge the IPS batteries using solar panels during the day until evening. After that, they used a generator if needed. However, this houseboat no longer has solar panels installed.

Right now, none of the large houseboats that carry tourists in the haor use solar panels anymore. Instead, these houseboats charge their IPS batteries for a short time using an electricity connection, and then they run mostly on generators for the rest of the time.

Visiting more than 20 houseboats tied up in the Sahebbari Ghat area of Sunamganj Sadar Upazila, it is seen that the solar panel connections had been removed. The batteries and panels were left there without any use or care. Aminul Islam, who is the driver of Abhiyyatri-1, explained that at first, the boat could run on the solar system until 7 or 8 in the evening. After that, they would use the generator for about an hour and charge the IPS batteries all night long. But things have changed now. The demands from tourists have grown a lot. Now there are eight fans in eight cabins, four lights in four bathrooms, and visitors also want to recharge their mobile phones. All these things use too much power, and solar panels cannot handle it. Under the circumstances, the solar panels have been removed and left unused. Everything now runs on generators.

He also mentioned that the generator makes a lot of noise, and this noise disturbs the tourists who are staying on the boat. But there is no other choice. It would be much better if there were stronger and more powerful solar power systems available.

A food shopkeeper named Golam Kibria showed me a solar panel that the municipal authorities had provided. He said it was installed before 2022. However, most of these panels have been damaged because there was no proper supervision or maintenance. Somehow, one panel is still working. Even on stormy and rainy days when there is no electricity for many hours, this one panel still provides light.

The Tahirpur Nau-Parjatan Shilpa Samabhai Samiti has 350 trawlers owned by its members. Mohammad Rabbani, who is from Ratanshri village in Tahirpur and the president of the association, said two years ago, all the boats in the association had solar panels installed. Everyone had spent between Tk20,000 and Tk80,000 to put these solar panels on their boats. But whenever a solar panel got damaged or had any problem, there was no one available to check, supervise, or repair it. Also, over time, the power output from the panels became weaker and could not provide enough light. Because of these issues, people gradually removed the solar panels from their boats one by one. Now, most of them are using generators instead.

Masukur Rahman, who was the former president of the Houseboat Owners Association that operates in Tanguar Haor, said that to meet the full electricity needs of tourists, a boat would require 18 to 20 batteries connected to solar panels. This would need a big investment of Tk8 lakh to 10 lakh in total.

Arafat Rahman, who is the current president of the organization, explained that if they wanted to use large solar panels, they would have to cover the entire roof of the boat with them. But the roof is where tourists like to sit, relax, and enjoy the view — that is part of the attraction. If the roof is fully covered with panels, tourists cannot use it at all. So, to make it work without covering the whole roof, they would need much more powerful solar panels than the small ones.

Problems with repair and maintenance

Workers on solar-powered boats — including houseboats, ordinary trawlers, and other vessels operating in the haor — said that the sellers of solar panels do not provide any help with repairs or maintenance. Because of this lack of support, the owners and drivers of trawlers and boats are losing interest in using solar power.

A recent nationwide survey conducted together by the Daily Samakal and the research organisation Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) also pointed out this same problem with repairing solar panels. The survey conducted at several districts, including Bhola, Cumilla, Feni, Gazipur, Patuakhali, Pirojpur, Sunamganj, Tangail, and Thakurgaon. It found that in these places, all the solar systems had completely failed, meaning a 100 percent failure rate overall. 

In 40 different communities that were studied, the most common problem with solar power systems was the battery. Local repairers often said that the battery is the part that causes the most trouble — it frequently needs to be replaced or repaired. Users also said that battery failure was the main reason they stopped using or gave up on solar energy.