In Nigeria, Africa’s top oil producer, solar power is taking off in rural areas as the cost of running diesel generators soars.
Four in 10 Nigerians are disconnected from the power grid, and many rely on home generators for power. Even in cities, the grid is unreliable, with families using generators to weather frequent blackouts. But in the past two years, the cost of diesel has spiked as the government did away with a fuel subsidy. At the same time, the price of Chinese solar panels has continued to drop, spurring Nigerians to abandon their diesel generators in favor of renewable energy.
For Nigerians, the cost savings from ditching diesel mean that a solar panel pays for itself within six months, according to energy think tank Ember. Homeowners who can afford the up-front costs are installing rooftop solar in large numbers, while some villages are setting up community solar and battery projects with the backing of development groups, The Financial Times reports. Solar is making huge gains in Nigeria, with imports of Chinese solar panels growing by two-thirds between June 2024 and June 2025, according to data from Ember.
As costs fall globally, solar is making similar headway in other parts of the developing world, from Zambia to Brazil. In Pakistan, high fuel prices, a byproduct of the Ukraine war and the loss of a fuel subsidy, have spurred the mass adoption of solar. Last year, Pakistan imported enough solar panels to raise its total power capacity by a third.
In a recent interview with Yale Environment 360, Pakistani energy analyst Muhammad Mustafa Amjad said that solar “is no longer a luxury item in Pakistan. It’s become a necessity.” In parts of the country, it has even become customary to include solar panels in a wedding dowry, he said. “Along with a TV and a washing machine, solar panels are part and parcel of this.”
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