Pakistan has self-service photovoltaic replacement stations

In the same way sites like TikTok and Instagram have allowed people to bypass traditional media and become publishers, the solar revolution is allowing Pakistanis to become electricity producers as well as consumers. Once you combine solar and batteries, “suddenly all the power goes in the hands of consumers,” Moosa said.

It imported 17 gigawatts of solar panels in 2024, more than double the previous year, making it the world's third-biggest importer, according to data from the climate think tank Ember. Pakistan's story is unique, said Mustafa Amjad, program director at Renewables First, an energy think tank based in Islamabad.

Pakistan, home to more than 240 million people, is experiencing one of the most rapid solar revolutions on the planet, even as it grapples with poverty and economic instability. The country has become a huge new market for solar as super-cheap Chinese solar panels flood in.

An official from Pakistan's Power Division told CNN the government “has to be given full credit” for this boom, citing programs including zero tax on solar panels and a net metering system, which allows people to send excess solar energy to the grid and currently accounts for about 4 gigawatts .

Pakistan's story is unique, said Mustafa Amjad, program director at Renewables First, an energy think tank based in Islamabad. Solar has been adopted at mass scale in countries including Vietnam and South Africa, “but none have had the speed and scale that Pakistan has had,” he told CNN.

Moosa, from the Pakistan Solar Association, compares it to the rise of social media. In the same way sites like TikTok and Instagram have allowed people to bypass traditional media and become publishers, the solar revolution is allowing Pakistanis to become electricity producers as well as consumers.