Pakistan has imported about 50 gigawatts of Chinese solar panels, in one of the world’s largest solar booms, and almost all of it sits on rooftops and small private systems.

The panels were not bought for official grid-scale projects. Citizens and businesses installed them on a small, distributed scale to cut their own power bills.

Analysts say the pattern is now repeating elsewhere. Nigeria has imported about 5 GW of Chinese solar and Yemen about 2 GW, following the same citizen-led model.

The trend marks a shift in how clean energy spreads in developing countries. Instead of waiting for big government projects, households are building their own solar capacity.

Cheap Chinese panels made the boom possible. Prices fell so far that rooftop solar now beats grid power on cost in many places.

The distributed model also skips the need for new transmission lines. For countries with weak grids, that shortcut could bring power to millions faster than traditional projects.