Solar-powered
irrigation pumps are becoming a successful trend in Pakistan. One old farmer in
the Punjab region referred to it as a “societal revolution” not seen since
Pakistan built its highway system about four decades ago. Solar generation has
grown manyfold in Pakistan, now accounting for nearly one-half of grid power.
The boom was triggered by lower solar panel costs from Chinese imports and
government subsidies. It has allowed many Pakistani households to go off-grid
completely, although many stay grid-tied to take advantage of net metering,
where they can sell their excess power back to the grid. The Pakistani power
grid is aging, overburdened, and costly. Electricity prices doubled between
2021 and 2024, before the government stepped in to stabilize them.
“Elsewhere in the sane world as in Pakistan, ordinary
people have taken matters into their own hands, putting up rooftop solar power
on individual homes now equal to one-half of the country’s electric grid. The
biggest solar adopters are farmers, using solar to replace diesel fuel to power
field generators for water irrigation. As a result, Pakistan used 35% less
diesel fuel last year than the year before.”
An emerging issue is that
while wealthy consumers tend to go solar, poorer residents must absorb a higher
percentage of the higher power costs. After decades of power shortages,
Pakistan now has an excess of power plants, after building several new
coal-fired plants since 2010. The solar boom in Pakistan appears to be mainly a
rooftop solar and solar irrigation boom. Generous subsidies, some at 60%, are
fueling the boom. Apparently, it is simply a better deal than connecting to the
grid, which, for rural customers, means additional costs like purchasing
transformers.
Among those connected to the
grid, the high power costs force some people to choose between food and power.
High temperatures in the country make some kind of cooling, whether via fans or
air conditioners, very desirable. Pakistan’s net metering policy, where it pays
grid-tied solar customers for their excess power, has led to financial losses
due to too much excess power. The situation also shows an inherent flaw of
availability in solar subsidization – that the wealthy, those who can afford
the upfront costs, will benefit the most. That has definitely been the case in
Pakistan as elsewhere. In a sense, it exacerbates inequality by extending
opportunities to the wealthy that the poor cannot afford.
Proposed solutions include
promoting and subsidizing battery systems, more government investment in solar,
limits on the sizes of solar systems, and grid modernization.
Another trend among Pakistani
farmers is solar-powered tube wells, where solar energy powers the well pump.
This is creating more opportunities for farmers. It has resulted in 30% more
rice farming and 10% less maize farming from 2023 to 2025. In the drought-prone
region of the Punjab, there are dried riverbeds. Growing less water-intensive
crops, such as rice, would be better since drops in the groundwater table have
been associated with the solar-powered tube well boom. These tube wells do not
require permits or registration, so it is unknown how many there are. There
must be quite a few since it is expected that the amount of grid electricity
consumed by the agricultural sector is expected to drop by 45% from 2023
through 2025. An advisor to Pakistan’s energy minister, Amar Habib, renewables
analyst Syed Faizan Ali Shah, and Reuters calculated that 400,000 tube wells
were converted from grid power or diesel to solar, and 250,000 new ones were
drilled since 2023, suggesting a total of 650,000 tube wells.
According to Reuters:
“The water table has shrunk below 60 feet - a level
designated as critical by the provincial irrigation department - across 6.6% of
Punjab as of 2024, according to maps published for internal use by water
authorities and seen by Reuters. That marks an increase of some 25% between
2020 and 2024, while the deepest pockets - with water levels beyond 80 feet -
more than doubled in size during the same period.”
Reuters also noted that
Pakistan’s energy minister, Awais Leghari, disagreed that solar pumping was
depleting groundwater, citing the fact that the same amount of land was under
cultivation. However, he did not respond when asked about the growth of rice
farming. Low wheat prices have stressed farmers in the region and put pressure
on them to grow more profitable crops. Farmers are also banding together to
purchase solar panels in a community solar type of approach.
"Farmers share, rent and move panels like
tractors," said Lahore-based solar-panel merchant Shahab Qureshi.
"They sell land, jewellery, or take loans just to get it. Within five to
six months, your return on investment is fulfilled."
Punjab is piloting about 40
groundwater recharge projects, which have increased in importance since India
signaled it would restrict the sharing of Indus River water earlier this year.
Farmers are also hoping to increase surface water irrigation projects and
utilize older infrastructure, such as old siphon tunnels, to access more water
and lessen the load on groundwater resources. What Pakistan does not have is a
detailed mapping of water wells and quantitative data on water withdrawals. For
sure, groundwater depletion in the region is a problem to be monitored and
mitigated.
References:
How
Pakistan’s solar energy boom led to higher power bills for the poor. Rick Noack
and Shaiq Hussain. Washington Post. August 24, 2025. How Pakistan’s solar energy boom led
to higher power bills for the poor
Clean
Solar Outshines Filthy Oil. Robert Hunziker. Z Network. September 2, 2025. Clean Solar Outshines Filthy Oil
Solar-powered
farming is digging Pakistan into a water catastrophe. Ariba Shahid. Reuters.
October 1, 2025. Solar-powered
farming is digging Pakistan into a water catastrophe
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