Are solar panels 'unaffordable' in Pakistan?

But the mass adoption of solar panels also risked making the power provided by the Pakistani grid “unaffordable”, Awais Leghari, the energy minister, told the Financial Times. “Demand is shrinking off the grid. That’s a big concern for us.”

Are Chinese solar panels a solution to Pakistan's rising electricity prices?

Pakistan's skyrocketing electricity prices have pushed cash-strapped households and businesses to find relief from rising costs and rolling blackouts by using low-cost Chinese solar panels.

Is Pakistan awash with solar panels?

From pv magazine 10/24 Pakistan is awash with solar panels. In August 2024, BloombergNEF revealed Pakistan had imported 13 GW of Chinese modules in the first six months of the year. One project developer told pv magazine that there is so much oversupply, modules are “lying on the road.”

Are solar panels destroying Pakistan's electricity market?

Solar panels flooded into Pakistan during the first half of 2024 and oversupply has wiped out module margins. Solar developers want greater liberalization of the nation’s electricity market but the government is concerned that moving too quickly could place more pressure on utilities already burdened by high capacity payments.

Will Pakistan give away free solar panels?

Despite the federal government’s concern about its power network, the provincial government of Punjab, home to more than half of Pakistan’s 240mn population, announced in July that it would give away free or heavily subsidised solar panels for millions of citizens struggling with rising electricity bills.

Why is Akhtar importing solar panels from China?

Akhtar is now ploughing a chunk of last year’s profits into importing another haul of panels from China to lift the share of solar supply to his operations to 80 per cent by next April, to blunt the impact of soaring tariffs for state-provided power. “It’s the only way we can beat our competitors” in China and India, he said.