Costs & Payback · Solar
CM Punjab solar scheme: free 550 W or 1,100 W systems for homes using up to 200 units, by ballot. Registration closed Jan 2025; reports say it runs to Dec 2026.
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The CM Punjab solar scheme gives free solar systems, a 550 W or 1,100 W panel set with an inverter, to households using up to 200 units a month, chosen by ballot. Registration ran from 6 December 2024 to 5 January 2025, by SMS to 8800 or online, and about 861,000 people applied. The first ballot picked 94,483 homes. In April 2026, ProPakistani reported the scheme's deadline extended to December 2026. We found no new registration round as of 17 October 2026.
The CM Punjab solar scheme gives free solar systems to households using up to 200 units a month, chosen by ballot: a 550-watt system for about 100 units, or 1,100 watts for up to 200. Registration closed on 5 January 2025. In April 2026, news reports said Punjab had extended the scheme’s deadline to December 2026, but we found no new registration round as of 17 October 2026.
We found no sign of it. Registration opened on 6 December 2024 (Dawn) and the last date was 5 January 2025 (Business Recorder). About 861,000 consumers applied, Dawn reported on 4 March 2025.
On 14 April 2026, ProPakistani reported that the Chief Minister had extended the scheme’s deadline by six months, from June 2026 to December 2026, with extra funding. Under the revised plan, more than 94,000 systems are to be given out by ballot, at an estimated cost of nearly Rs 10 billion. It said over 800,000 applications had been received, and did not say a new round had opened.
A Pakistan Observer report from the same week still describes how to register by SMS and online. It doesn’t say new applications are being accepted. Many unofficial websites advertise “2026 registration”; we found no news report of a new round.
Domestic electricity consumers in Punjab who use up to 200 units a month on a single meter (Business Recorder, January 2025). Pakistan Observer (13 Apr 2026) lists the eligible bill categories:
| Category | Units a month |
|---|---|
| Lifeline | Up to 50 |
| Lifeline | 51 to 100 |
| Protected and unprotected | 0 to 100 |
| Protected and unprotected | 101 to 200 |
Your sanctioned load (the load your connection is approved for, printed on your bill) must be up to 2 kW, according to the same Pakistan Observer report. Applicants were checked using the bill’s reference number and their CNIC number (Dawn, 7 Dec 2024), and winners were physically verified before installation (ARY, 4 Mar 2025).
“Protected” means you’ve stayed under 100 or 200 units for six months in a row, which kept your unit price at about Rs 10.54 or Rs 13 as of February 2026 (Dawn, 7 Feb 2026). See electricity unit price for every slab.
| Monthly use | System |
|---|---|
| About 100 units | 550 W |
| Up to 200 units | 1,100 W (1.1 kW) |
Each system is a set of solar panels and an inverter, and the inverter is linked to your CNIC to deter theft (Dawn, 7 Dec 2024). Dawn’s report doesn’t mention batteries.
The first ballot, held on 3 March 2025, picked 94,483 homes: 47,301 for 1.1 kW systems and 47,182 for 0.55 kW systems (Dawn and ARY, 4 Mar 2025).
These are small systems. For a sense of what size covers a whole home, see what size solar system you need.
Nothing for the household. Dawn reported on 7 December 2024 that the systems are free of cost. The Chief Minister put the cost to the government at Rs 10 billion for 100,000 homes (Business Recorder, January 2025). By our arithmetic, that is about Rs 1 lakh per system.
If you weren’t picked and want to buy your own system, see solar system prices and bank solar financing.
In the 2024–25 round you had two ways to apply (Dawn, Business Recorder):
Winners were chosen by computerised ballot, then had a physical verification before installation. The SMS code 8800 and the portal are the only routes named in the news reports we found, so don’t pay anyone who offers to register you.
In July 2024, Punjab’s cabinet approved a “Roshan Gharana Program” for consumers using 50 to 500 units, with the government paying 90% and households 10% (Business Recorder, 10 Jul 2024). The scheme that actually launched in December 2024 was narrower: free systems for homes using up to 200 units.
We found no news report of a current Punjab instalment or loan scheme for 200 to 500 unit users. Websites that describe one don’t cite an official notice.
There was one in January 2025, run separately for farmers. According to Dawn, it planned to solarise 8,000 tube wells first and 10,000 more in a second phase, with the province paying about 67% of the cost (Dawn, 6 Jan 2025). Applicants needed at least one acre and Punjab residence, and over 450,000 applied by the January 2025 deadline.
If you use more than 200 units a month, you don’t qualify. Our guide on whether solar is worth it works through the payback for bigger systems.
If you plan to sell power back to the grid, read our net metering guide first.
More guides: solar calculator, best solar panels, solar financing.
We found no new registration round as of 17 Oct 2026. Registration closed on 5 Jan 2025 (Business Recorder). In April 2026, ProPakistani and Pakistan Observer reported the scheme's deadline extended to December 2026.
The last date to register was 5 January 2025. ProPakistani reported on 14 Apr 2026 that the scheme's deadline was extended by six months, to December 2026.
Nothing for the household: the systems are free. The Chief Minister put the cost at Rs 10 billion for 100,000 homes (Business Recorder, January 2025), about Rs 1 lakh each by our arithmetic.
In the registration round, you sent your electricity bill reference number and CNIC number by SMS to 8800, or applied on cmsolarscheme.punjab.gov.pk.
No. The tube well scheme is a separate subsidy for farmers, with the province paying about 67% of the cost, Dawn reported in January 2025. Over 450,000 people had applied by its January 2025 deadline.
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Costs & Payback
Electricity unit price in Pakistan as of October 2026: Rs 10.54 to Rs 47.20 a unit by slab, protected vs unprotected, fixed charges, fuel adjustments and taxes.
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Is solar worth it in Pakistan in 2026? Worked payback for a 5 kW home system at October 2026 prices: on-grid with net billing, without export, and hybrid.
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Solar panels on installment from Meezan, Bank Alfalah, MCB, JS Bank and NBP: limits, tenure, KIBOR pricing, down payment and fees, from bank pages, Oct 2026.
