It doesn”t make sense to subsidize solar power in northern cities that are often overcast, like London, which gets less than four hours of sunshine per day.
But solar panels could provide a great deal of energy in southern regions where there is more sunlight annually. Just putting solar panels on homes and businesses could provide a meaningful amount of power in Khartoum, one of the largest cities in the Sahara desert (six million people lived near it prior to Sudan’s recent civil war). It gets gets about ten hours per day of sunshine.
A violent militia occuped the city of Khartoum and stole most of its electric cables, making it impossible for residents and businesses to obtain electric power from the electric power company. So some residents bought imported Chinese solar panels and used them to power their electric lights and TVs.
Other parts of Africa also get a lot of sunshine — Dar es Salaam, the largest city in East Africa (nine million people), gets about 8 hours per day of sunshine, and many other African cities get even more sunshine, such as Dakar, the capital of Senegal in West Africa.
Solar power has taken off around Karachi, the biggest city in Pakistan, which is quite sunny — it gets about 9 hours per day of sunshine, due to the fact that it gets only 12 inches of rain per year, and even in winter, it never experiences days shorter than about ten and a half hours.
Solar panel imports are now taking off in Africa, reports Ember:
Solar is not new to Africa. For more than two decades, solar has helped improve lives across Africa, in rural schools and hospitals, pay-as-you-go in homes, street lighting, water pumping, mini-grids and more. However, South Africa and Egypt are currently the only countries with installed solar capacity measured in gigawatts, rather than megawatts. That could be about to change.
The first evidence of a take-off in solar in Africa is now here:
- The last 12 months saw a big rise in Africa’s solar panel imports. Imports from China rose 60% in the last 12 months to 15,032 MW. Over the last two years, the imports of solar panels outside of South Africa have nearly tripled from 3,734 MW to 11,248 MW.
- The rise happened across Africa. 20 countries set a new record for the imports of solar panels in the 12 months to June 2025. 25 countries imported at least 100 MW, up from 15 countries 12 months before.
- These solar panels will provide a lot of electricity. The solar panels imported into Sierra Leone in the last 12 months, if installed, would generate electricity equivalent to 61% of the total reported 2023 electricity generation, significantly adding to electricity supply. They would add electricity equivalent to over 5% to total reported electricity generation in 16 countries.
- Solar panel imports will reduce fuel imports. The savings from avoiding diesel can repay the cost of a solar panel within six months in Nigeria, and even less in other countries. In nine of the top ten solar panel importers, the import value of refined petroleum eclipses the import value of solar panels by a factor of between 30 to 107.
This surge is still in its early days. Pakistan experienced an immense solar boom in the last two years, but Africa is not the next Pakistan – yet. However, change happens quickly. And the first evidence is now here.
After a military coup in Niger, sanctions imposed on the country made it harder for the country’s inefficient electric utility to provide enough power. So residents bought cheap Chinese solar panels and used them to power their light bulbs and TVs.
