Pakistan’s solar boom makes it one of the biggest buyers of Chinese panels
Pakistan imported about 7.2 GW of Chinese solar panels in the first seven months of 2026, second only to the Netherlands — reshaping its power sector.
Pakistan has become one of the world’s largest markets for Chinese solar panels. Between January and July 2026, the country imported about 7.2 gigawatts of panels from China, making it the second-largest recipient of Chinese solar exports after the Netherlands, according to The Friday Times.
The trend has been building for years. Pakistan imported around 7.6 GW of panels in 2023, 16.4 GW in 2024 and 16.9 GW in 2025. Most of this capacity has been installed not by the government but by households, factories, farms, shops and private landowners.
Why consumers are switching
The main driver is the cost of grid electricity. The effective tariff rose from about Rs 12.5 per unit in 2015 to more than Rs 34 in 2025, while the price of Chinese panels fell sharply. For many families and businesses, rooftop solar now pays for itself within a few years.
A challenge for the grid
The boom is creating difficult questions for the power sector. Many generation contracts include capacity payments — fixed amounts paid to power producers whether or not their electricity is used. As grid consumption falls, those fixed costs are spread over fewer customers, which can push tariffs higher and encourage even more people to go solar.
In 2026, regulators moved from net metering, which credited solar users generously for power fed into the grid, to a net billing system that prices exported and imported electricity differently. The change has been unpopular with solar owners. Analysts also warn that cheaper batteries could further reduce reliance on the grid after dark, leaving some recently built plants and transmission lines underused.
A partnership with long-term implications
For Chinese manufacturers, Pakistan has become a key growth market. For Pakistan, the challenge is to turn a consumer-led boom into a planned energy transition — modernising the grid, rethinking legacy power contracts and building local capacity to install, service and eventually manufacture solar equipment.
Sources: The Friday Times · ProPakistani
