Pakistan's Rooftop Solar & Energy Security: The Numbers (2026)
When the Strait of Hormuz tightens, Pakistan’s fuel-import bill climbs and the rupee comes under pressure. Rooftop solar is the one thing quietly cushioning that shock — generation moved off the imported-fuel grid and onto the country’s roofs. Our CEO laid out the strategic argument in Dawn (“Solar and national security”); this page is the data behind it. Figures are attributed to their sources; the fleet figures are our own.
Pakistan's solar energy security, in numbers
| Metric | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Oil & gas imports avoided since 2018 | $12 billion+ | Renewables First & CREA, Mar 2026 |
| Further savings projected by end of 2026 | $6.3 billion | Renewables First & CREA, Mar 2026 |
| Solar PV imports, 2018 → early 2026 | under 1 GW → over 51 GW | Renewables First & CREA, Mar 2026 |
| Drop in oil & gas imports, 2022–2024 | ~40% | Renewables First & CREA, Mar 2026 |
These figures come from a March 2026 analysis by Renewables First and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), reported in Dawn. The pattern they describe is consistent: distributed rooftop generation is displacing imported fuel at the exact daytime hours the grid is most expensive to run.
What our own fleet shows
National figures are estimates. We can speak from direct measurement: Solar Citizen monitors 1,000+ active sites and 10+ MW of commissioned capacity across Pakistan through our SOL AI platform.
Based on that installed base and typical Pakistani yields, our fleet generates an estimated 16+ GWh of clean electricity a year — every unit produced on a customer’s roof during daylight is a unit that did not have to be imported as fuel, paid for in dollars, and burned at a power plant. That is energy security accruing one rooftop at a time, and SOL AI lets us see it happen in real time across the fleet.
Why daytime self-consumption is the security lever
The energy-security value of solar is concentrated in the daytime peak — the hours when grid demand is highest and most likely to be met by imported fuel. Under Pakistan’s current prosumer rules, that is also where the financial value sits: consuming your own generation in real time beats low-value export. A correctly sized system for daytime self-consumption (and a hybrid system for evenings) maximises both the savings and the independence. See our breakdown of the NEPRA prosumer regulations and the full argument in Solar and Energy Security in Pakistan.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does rooftop solar improve Pakistan’s energy security?
A large share of Pakistan’s grid power is generated from imported oil, diesel, and LNG, paid for in dollars. Solar generated on local rooftops during the daytime peak directly displaces that imported-fuel demand, reducing both the national import bill and exposure to global price and supply shocks.
How much has rooftop solar saved Pakistan in fuel imports?
A March 2026 analysis by Renewables First and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) found Pakistan avoided more than $12 billion in oil and gas imports since 2018, with a further ~$6.3 billion projected by the end of 2026. Solar PV imports rose from under 1 GW in 2018 to over 51 GW by early 2026.
Does exporting solar to the grid help energy security?
The bigger lever is daytime self-consumption, not export. Under current prosumer (net-billing) rules, consuming your own generation in real time delivers the most value and the most independence; a hybrid system extends that into the evening.
What can a single household or business do?
Install a system sized to your own daytime load. Every unit you self-generate is a unit of imported fuel the country doesn’t buy — personal savings and national resilience are the same action.
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