Islamabad energy storage large capacity household power supply

Solar panels can be seen on the rooftops of houses in Islamabad. Pakistan is in the midst of a solar boom that has rapidly turned the country into one of the world's largest new adopters of this renewable energy source, according to data from the global energy think tank Ember.

This became apparent last year, when solar imports to Pakistan more than tripled from just one year earlier, approaching $2.1 billion, according to data from Renewables First, an energy and environment think tank in Islamabad.

"The electricity cost in the country has increased so people are in conservation mode. They use less electricity to save their electricity bills," she says. As more Pakistanis add solar, demand for electricity from the grid has gone down, even though many still rely on the grid, especially at night.

The Pakistani government has already taken several steps to regulate the residential solar industry, including lowering the rate it pays for electricity that household solar setups produce. In June, the government also announced a 10% tax on imported solar panels into Pakistan — almost all of which come from China.

Pakistan also has increasingly unaffordable electricity, with power prices more than doubling in the last three years. The price hikes have stemmed from fluctuations in global energy prices, the depreciation of Pakistan's currency and the government's rollback of energy subsidies, which previously made electricity more affordable.

Pakistan is tapping into solar power at an 'unprecedented' rate. Here's why Solar panels on the rooftops of houses in Islamabad. Pakistan is in the midst of a solar boom that solar analysts describe as "unprecedented."