Pakistan is in the middle of a solar power revolution and the surge is continuing to accelerate. Over the past five years, the percentage of electricity generated from solar panels jumped from 2% to nearly 25%. Almost all of that growth has been driven by individuals buying their own solar panels, removing their homes or businesses from the centralized grid and generating electricity for themselves. The world is looking into the why and how of this surge is continuing, and it has become a case study as the most ambitious ways Pakistanis are working to tackle the climate crisis. Most of the deployment happened on people rooftops, in industrial warehouses, even people have bought chunks of land to install solar panels. The overhaul began when two simultaneous events occurred: First, Russia invaded Ukraine, sending energy prices soaring. Then, Pakistan’s currency was devalued, making electricity even more expensive. To bring their bills down, many people turned to solar. If one just takes a look at Google Maps and see any Pakistani city, he/she will find a sea of solar panels.
Mostly people are doing it to save energy costs. In rural areas, it’s mostly for the main or backup supply of the grid. But with the US-Iran war, people are doing it for the stability for example, if somebody has a 10-kilowatt system, they are upgrading it to 15 kilowatt and adding batteries, so that they have a 24-hour backup available in case there is a power shortage. Pakistan’s solar boom acted like a buffer when the US-Iran war threatened the Strait of Hormuz in early 2026. The strait carries nearly 80% of Pakistan’s oil imports and 99% of its LNG, so a closure would normally mean blackouts, factory shutdowns, and massive fuel bills. Rooftop and distributed solar reduced the need for grid power and imported LNG/gas. Analysts say this avoided over $12 billion in oil and gas imports since 2020. This is a pretty big change in how electricity is generated and distributed in Pakistan, moving from large power plants burning fossil fuels, hydropower or nuclear power to people generating power in their own homes. As a result, the grid is now starting to face challenges.
In the past three years, Pakistan has installed more solar panels than the entire African continent combined. The government is also changing the policy so that whoever is connected to the grid should be connected at a fair price mechanism. It has also abolished duties and taxes, gave out loans at very subsidized rates, and also they have started solarization of their own buildings which actually triggered many installers and many companies to come into Pakistan with so many large orders that they are getting. There are hundreds of companies in Pakistan that are offering solar panels and other services so there is no supply chain issue. The most surprising part of all this is that Pakistan has done this without any external financing. Most people have managed it through their savings or maybe loans from banks.
Pakistan gets almost all of its solar panels from China but this is not a cause of concern because this is not a commodity like fuel, which requires a new shipment every time. The lifespan of a solar panel is 15-20 years so it is a long-term asset. However, to address this issue, the government is coming up with a solar panel policy, where they are encouraging local companies to install solar panel factories and produce them locally. How soon those factories will be set up and begin production at scale remains to be seen in the next few years.
Analysts called solar an “insurance policy against oil and LNG shocks”. Pakistan’s energy curve bent downward on imports while China, India, and South Korea stayed exposed. The solar boom didn’t eliminate Pakistan’s fossil fuel dependence, but it cut enough LNG and oil demand that the country avoided the worst price shocks and blackouts when Hormuz was threatened. It turned a private coping mechanism into a national geopolitical buffer.