Pakistan has emerged as one of the fastest-growing solar markets, importing nearly 50 GW of panels amid falling prices and rising adoption across sectors. Yet, reliable data on actual installations has been limited. To bridge this gap, TransitionZero and the Policy Research Institute for Equitable Development (PRIED) combined satellite imagery with a national household survey to produce the first comprehensive estimate of distributed solar in Pakistan.
Our findings show that most of Pakistan’s solar growth is happening outside the formal sector. TransitionZero estimates total installed solar capacity at around 29 GW, of which 27.5 GW comes from distributed systems, mainly concentrated in Punjab, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh. After accounting for uncertainties, total distributed solar ranges between 22.6 and 32.5 gigawatts (GW).
PRIED’s survey, however, reveals that 33.35 GW of imported panels have been installed across residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural sectors, including 19 GW of non–net-metered and 8.3 GW of off-grid systems. In households, adoption rises with income—38% among low spenders versus 88% among high spenders—reflecting affordability gaps. In contrast, agricultural uptake is highest among low-income farmers (85%), driven by the need for reliable and cheaper power.
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