Pakistan can turn rooftop solar boom into ‘swarm grids’: study

According to a new study reported by Business Recorder, Pakistan could channel its expanding rooftop solar uptake into swarm grids, which are localised networks linking household systems. The Policy Research Institute for Equitable Development (PRIED) unveiled the research on Thursday at an event drawing officials, regulators, energy specialists and members of civil society. The authors argue, however, that regulatory change is still the main gap between what is technically possible and wide-scale rollout.

Swarm grids are built by linking decentralised solar home systems or modest renewable units into one micro-network, with no central controller. Under PRIED's definition, households and businesses would use their own solar output, store power, sell extra units to neighbours and buy from nearby producers, with the national grid serving mainly as a fallback. Unlike conventional microgrids with fixed borders, these networks could let participants join, leave or trade electricity as conditions change.

The study tested the model in Islamabad, an urban setting, and Tharparkar in Sindh, a rural area with scattered communities, combining household surveys, figures on solar resources and an hourly dispatch simulation. Technical feasibility was confirmed in both places, though urban projects could run as privately financed businesses while rural ones would need upfront investment and local capacity building. The main shared hurdle is the regulatory framework, since peer-to-peer trading and third-party sales within a distributor's territory are currently restricted.