Solar home systems (SHSs) are the real hope for electrification of the off-grid areas in Bangladesh by utilizing the solar energy in renewable and sustainable basis. This paper demonstrates the solar energy prospect, the present status and dissemination schemes of SHSs in off-grid and coastal areas of Bangladesh by several government and Non-government organizations (NGOs). The country has an average daily solar radiation ranges between 4–6.5kWh/m2. Currently, more than 3.8 million SHSs of capacity range 10–135Wp (watt peak) with a total capacity of 150MW have been disseminated in rural and isolated areas in Bangladesh. In this paper, ten case studies of capacity 20Wp, 30Wp and 42Wp were investigated to evaluate economic viability at two randomly selected villages in Sirajgonj district and Jessore district, Bangladesh. The analysis showed that the SHSs for small business enterprise and household with small income generation are economically viable rather than only household lighting.