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.”

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.

Why are some factories shutting down in Pakistan?

Some factories have been forced to shut even as the Pakistani government seeks to boost exports to transform the import-dependent, boom-and-bust economy. Jenny Chase, lead solar analyst at BloombergNEF, said the cost of panels has halved to about 10 cents per watt, from 24 cents last year.