
A worker carries a solar panel plate at a market in Lahore on June 12, 2024. The country has experienced a rapid solar boom over the past two years. Photo Credit: Arif Ali/AFP/Getty Images
Environment PakistanA ‘Bottom Up Revolution’ in Solar Energy
Despite poverty and economic instability, Pakistan imported 17 gigawatts of solar panels in 2024, more than double the previous year, becoming the world’s third-largest importer of solar panels. This movement is people-led and market-driven.
“Contrary to the notion that renewables only thrive on subsidies or are ‘forced’ onto the Global South, Pakistanis are actively choosing solar because it makes financial sense,” explains Harjeet Singh, climate advocate and founding director of Satat Sampada Climate Foundation.
The solar boom in Pakistan is a grassroots revolution, and almost none of it involves big solar farms. As the country faces deadly heat waves – the temperature reached nearly 50° Celsius in April – citizens look to increase their photovoltaic capacity to power the cooling systems they desperately need to survive. Electricity prices have increased by 155% over the last three years, so businesses and households that could afford cheap solar panels have turned to this affordable solution. “It was essentially the people forcing markets to import more solar panels.”