Should Pakistan be given full credit for solar energy boom?

An official from Pakistan’s Power Division told CNN the government “has to be given full credit” for this boom, citing programs including zero tax on solar panels and a net metering system, which allows people to send excess solar energy to the grid and currently accounts for about 4 gigawatts .

Why is Pakistan becoming a big solar market?

Pakistan, home to more than 240 million people, is experiencing one of the most rapid solar revolutions on the planet, even as it grapples with poverty and economic instability. The country has become a huge new market for solar as super-cheap Chinese solar panels flood in.

Does Pakistan have a solar system?

Pakistan’s story is unique, said Mustafa Amjad, program director at Renewables First, an energy think tank based in Islamabad. Solar has been adopted at mass scale in countries including Vietnam and South Africa, “but none have had the speed and scale that Pakistan has had,” he told CNN.

How will solar power change Pakistan?

In the same way sites like TikTok and Instagram have allowed people to bypass traditional media and become publishers, the solar revolution is allowing Pakistanis to become electricity producers as well as consumers. Once you combine solar and batteries, “suddenly all the power goes in the hands of consumers,” Moosa said.

Why are Pakistanis choosing solar?

“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,” said Harjeet Singh, climate advocate and founding director of Satat Sampada Climate Foundation.

Is Pakistan experiencing a solar boom?

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. Link Copied! Glimmering, deep-blue solar panels carpet rooftops in Pakistan’s largest cities and dot the perimeters of houses in villages across the country.