Solar financing in Pakistan: bank solar loans and instalment plans compared

To get solar panels on installment in Pakistan, the main route is a bank solar loan through one of the bank’s approved vendors. As of October 2026, conventional banks price these loans at KIBOR plus 2% to 4%, which comes to roughly 14.7% to 16.7% a year at the 6 Oct 2026 KIBOR. You pay at least 15% to 30% upfront and repay over 1 to 10 years, depending on the bank.

How do bank solar loans compare?

Figures come from each bank’s own product page or key fact statement, read on 10 Oct 2026. Bank Alfalah’s website blocked us, so its rows come from Wayback Machine copies of its pages (5 Aug 2026 and 10 Apr 2026).

NBP’s product page carries no date, so check its terms at a branch. JS Bank also runs a separate Pakistan Distributed Solar Project, backed by the Green Climate Fund, at KIBOR plus a bank spread with a residential cap of up to Rs 2 crore, “till the facility is exhausted”.

What fees and conditions come with a solar loan?

Meezan’s salaried FAQ says Rs 5,000 + FED, but its product page and July to December 2026 schedule of charges say Rs 6,000. We follow the schedule of charges.

Other conditions that catch people out:

• Approved vendors only. Meezan, MCB, JS Bank and Bank Alfalah all require a quotation from their own list of solar companies.
• No batteries at Meezan. Meezan does not finance batteries or net metering costs, and only lends in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi/Islamabad.
• Collateral above Rs 15 lakh at MCB. Larger MCB loans need a mortgage on a residential property.
• Rate resets. MCB’s floating rate changes on the first working day of January and July. Only KIBOR changes; the 3.5% spread stays fixed.
• You must own the house. Bank Alfalah finances only homes owned by you, your spouse or blood relatives. JS GharApna needs you to own the house, or a parent’s house with an NOC (no-objection certificate).
• No flats at Meezan. Meezan finances only constructed houses, not apartments.

Who is eligible for a bank solar loan?

Meezan and JS Bank also require you to be an active tax filer with an NTN (National Tax Number). See filer vs non-filer.

How much does a solar loan cost per month?

This is our estimate, not a bank quote. Take a Rs 7 lakh system, inside our Rs 5.7 to 7.7 lakh estimate for a 5 kW on-grid system. You pay 20% down (Rs 1.4 lakh) and borrow Rs 5.6 lakh.

We use 15.68%: the 1-year KIBOR offer rate on 6 Oct 2026 (12.68%) plus Bank Alfalah’s 3% salaried spread. We assume the rate stays the same for the whole loan.

If KIBOR rose 1 point and stayed there, the 5-year instalment would be Rs 13,821, or Rs 298 more a month. Add the processing fee, insurance and FED on top.

At the same KIBOR, the formulas give 14.68% for NBP, 15.89% for MCB (6-month KIBOR of 12.39% plus 3.5%) and 16.68% for Bank Alfalah’s self-employed rate. Whether the loan pays off depends on your bill savings: see is solar worth it in Pakistan.

Is the SBP 6% solar financing scheme still available?

We couldn’t confirm it is. SBP’s Financing Scheme for Renewable Energy let banks lend for systems up to 1 MW under net metering (Category II), for up to 10 years and Rs 400 million per borrower. Its archived page shows a 6% cap only for Category III, lending to renewable energy investment companies.

SBP’s last extension, Circular Letter 9 of 2022, ran the scheme to 30 June 2024. SBP’s 2024 circulars list shows no further extension.

SBP’s website blocked us, so we read these pages from Wayback Machine copies. A December 2025 copy still describes the scheme but gives no end date. Ask your bank in writing whether it has a limit under the scheme before you rely on a 6% rate.

Are there government solar schemes for households?

• Punjab: the CM Punjab Free Solar Panel Scheme gave free systems to consumers using up to 200 units a month: 550 W for about 100 units and 1,100 W for up to 200 units, chosen by ballot (Dawn, 7 Dec 2024). Its first phase covered 94,483 free systems from about 861,000 applicants (Dawn, 4 Mar 2025). We couldn’t open Punjab government websites to check for a current phase or an instalment scheme.
• Sindh: the Chief Minister announced a “Solar Installment Plan” in June 2026, where households would pay instalments equal to their current electricity bill for three to four years (Daily Pakistan, 18 Jun 2026). No eligibility rules, lender or launch date had been published.
• Sindh distribution plan: Sindh plans to hand out 275,000 household solar systems in FY27 at a cost of Rs 18 billion (Arab News, 25 Jun 2026).

What about installer instalment plans and other banks?

We found no installer that publishes its down payment, tenure and markup, so we can’t compare them. If an installer offers instalments, ask for the total you will pay and compare it with a bank’s figure.

We also couldn’t confirm solar terms at HBL (no home solar page found), UBL (its site rejected our request), Faysal Bank, Bank of Punjab, Bank AL Habib or Askari Bank. BankIslami’s solar page offers its customers a discount and a year of free maintenance, not financing.

More guides: solar system price, what size solar system you need, credit cards compared, how to apply for net billing, solar calculator, Solar.