Solar power in Pakistan is growing at the "most extreme" rate in the world, with solar installations providing an estimated one-third of the country's entire generating capacity added in 2024 alone. Solar power became part of the energy mix in 2013, following government policies aimed at supporting

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

development. Benefiting from nine and a half hours of sunlight daily, the country now has seven large-scale solar projects that contribute 530 MW to the national grid, along with a growing number of harder to measure off-grid projects. Rising electricity costs and grid reliability concerns have driven industries, businesses, and urban homeowners to increasingly turn to solar solutions, including rooftop

photovoltaic Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commercially ...

installations. The country has solar plants in Pakistani

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

and

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region o ...

. Initiatives are under development by the

International Renewable Energy Agency The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is an intergovernmental organization mandated to facilitate cooperation, advance knowledge, and promote the adoption and sustainable use of renewable energy. It is the first international organis ...

, the

Japan International Cooperation Agency The Japan International Cooperation Agency (), also known as JICA'','' is a governmental agency that delivers the bulk of Official Development Assistance (ODA) for the government of Japan. It is chartered with assisting economic and social gr ...

, Chinese companies, and Pakistani private sector energy companies. The Quaid-e-Azam Solar Power Park (QASP) was built in the Cholistan Desert, Punjab, in 2015 and has a 400 MW capacity. As electricity prices doubled from 2021 to 2024, and Chinese solar panel manufacturers with manufacturing overcapacity cut prices, Pakistanis have taken to installing solar panels around the country, importing $1.4 billion of panels from China in the first half of 2024.

Solar resource

Solar irradiance Solar irradiance is the power per unit area (surface power density) received from the Sun in the form of electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength range of the measuring instrument. Solar irradiance is measured in watts per square metre ( ...

in Pakistan is 5.3 kWh/m²/day.

Government policy

Raja Pervaiz Ashraf Raja Pervaiz Ashraf (born 26 December 1950) is a Punjabis, Punjabi Pakistani politician, businessman and agriculturist who served as the 17th Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan from June 2012 to March 2013 and as the Speake ...

, the Federal Minister of Water & Power of Pakistan, announced on 2 July 2009 that 7,000 villages would be electrified using solar energy by 2014. Senior adviser Sardar Zulfiqar Khosa stated that the Punjab government would begin new projects aimed at power production through coal, solar energy and wind power; this would generate additional resources. The Government of Pakistan allowed the provincial government of

to conduct feasibility research. The government planned to install a

desalination plant Desalination is a process that removes mineral components from saline water. More generally, desalination is the removal of salts and minerals from a substance. One example is soil desalination. This is important for agriculture. It is possible ...

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Shehbaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif (born 23 September 1951) is a Pakistani politician and businessman who has served as the 20th Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan since March 2024, having previously been in the role between Ap ...

announced the removal of 17 per cent general sales tax on

solar panel A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that produce excited electrons when exposed to light. These electrons flow through a circuit and produce direct ...

s. The

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

reports that Pakistan possesses a solar power potential of 40 GW and has set a goal to achieve 20% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2025. To promote the use of solar energy, Pakistan has introduced incentives, including

net metering Net metering (or net energy metering, NEM) is an electricity billing mechanism that allows consumers who generate some or all of their own electricity to use that electricity anytime, instead of when it is generated. This is particularly impor ...

and

feed-in tariffs A feed-in tariff (FIT, FiT, standard offer contract,Couture, T., Cory, K., Kreycik, C., Williams, E., (2010)Policymaker's Guide to Feed-in Tariff Policy Design National Renewable Energy Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy advanced renewable tariff, ...

. Net metering allows small systems to have a payback period of just 2-4 years. The Sindh and Punjab provincial governments announced policies in 2024 to provide free or subsidized solar panels to low income residents to reduce their electricity costs.

Projects

*Beaconhouse installed the first high quality integrated solar energy system with a 10 kW power generation capacity capable of grid tie-in at Beaconhouse Canal Side Campus, Lahore. It was a pilot project for BSS designed by U.S. consultants, based upon feasibility by the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA). *50 to 100 MW of photovoltaics is expected to be installed in 2013, and at least 300 MW in 2014. In May 2015, 100 MW of a planned 1,000 MW were installed in the

Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park The Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park () is a photovoltaic power station in Bahawalpur, Punjab (Pakistan), Punjab, Pakistan, named in honor of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the Founder of Pakistan. It is a 400 MW solar facility spanning an area of 8 ...

. *The progress of

in Pakistan up to 31 October 2021 is 2188 MW commissioned systems. * Muzaffargarh solar power project * The Sindh Solar Energy Project (SSEP), funded by the World Bank with $100 million, aims to enhance solar power generation in

Sindh Province Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind or Scinde) is a province of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest provin ...

. It encompasses

utility-scale solar A photovoltaic power station, also known as a solar park, solar farm, or solar power plant, is a large-scale grid-connected photovoltaic power system (PV system) designed for the supply of merchant power. They are different from most building ...

development, distributed solar installations on public buildings, and the deployment of solar home systems in areas with limited grid access. * To avail the Net Metering Facility in Pakistan you need to install minimum of 10 KW solar system with on-grid inverter and 20 solar panels. * In February 2025, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif inaugurated a subsidized solarization project for agricultural tube wells in the province. About 87% of these wells are currently powered by diesel or grid power.

References

{{Portal bar, Pakistan, Energy

Solar resource

Government policy

Projects

See also

References