The Bangladeshi government has installed a solar panel system on the rooftop of its prime minister's office in capital Dhaka in a bid to encourage green energy in a country feeling the extreme pinch of electricity scarcity.

As part of inauguration of the system, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday switched over to the solar- powered lighting at her office.

The solar panel system, which is with a capacity of 20.16 kilowatt, has been installed on the roof of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on 1,700-square feet steel structure at a total cost of nearly 10 million taka (about 142,8757 U.S. dollars).

According to the PMO officials, a total of 126 solar panels have been used for the entire solar panel system in which five charge controllers with 80 amperes and 28 batteries with 1,320 amperes have been installed.

Apart from this, arrangement has been made in the solar system for transfer of power from direct current to alternative current by four hybrid inverters with 3,000 volt/amperes, they said, adding the entire PMO will gradually be taken under the system.

Earlier, the central bank of Bangladesh installed a solar panel system on the rooftop of it's main building as part of its efforts to inspire financial institution to go for using the green energy.

The bank in August 2009 set up an about 29 million U.S. dollars loan refinance scheme for renewable power and clean water projects in a bid to curb pollution and boost the generation of alternative current.

According to power division officials, renewable energy contributes less than 1 percent to total power generation of Bangladesh, a nation of around 162 million people of whom barely 45 percent have access to power.

The country's all 44 power plants are currently generating around 3,800 megawatts power a day against a peak demand of 5,300 megawatts.