Household Adoption of Solar Energy in Pakistan: Insights from Nationally Representative Data for Achieving Seventh Sustainable Development Goal

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Published: Dec 13, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.56476/jed.v50i1.71
Keywords:
solar energy, Solar photovoltaic (PV) adoption, Household energy choice, Renewable energy access, Income and education effects, Energy poverty, Rural electrification, Multinomial logit regression, Clean vs. dirty fuels, Sustainable energy transition, Pakistan, Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement Survey (2018–19), SDG 7, Clean and affordable energy policy, Developing countries, Household electrification, Tukey’s test, simulation analysis

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Muhammad Irfan
Applied Economics at Unitec, Auckland, New Zealand
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3876-4941
Michael Cameron
School of Accounting, Finance, and Economics, University of Waikato, New Zealand
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4296-3775
Waqar Akram
School of Accounting, Finance, and Economics, University of Waikato, New Zealand
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3003-0062

Abstract

Several studies have investigated the association between socio-economic factors and household solar photovoltaic energy adoption. However, the extent to which household income and education contribute to the adoption of clean energy and discourage the use of dirty energy sources remains relatively unexplored. Therefore, using nationally representative data from the Pakistan Social and Living Measurement Survey 2018-19, we first applied Tukey’s test to examine the income and education differences among the main lighting source adopters. We then applied multinomial logit regression to estimate the odds of choosing each main lighting source. Lastly, we run simulations to identify the role of income and education in the adoption of the main lighting source. The results suggest that income and education significantly differ among the adopters of dirty fuel, solar energy, and electricity from the grid. Income, education, number of rooms in the home, and male household head are all positively associated with the adoption of solar energy in comparison to dirty fuels. Our simulation analysis shows that, as income and education of the household increase, grid-sourced electricity remains the most preferred source of lighting. This suggests that shifting electricity production from fossil fuels to cleaner, sustainable, and renewable resources would reduce the adverse environmental, health, and economic impact. Moreover, our results suggest that solar photovoltaic energy may be more suitable for rural areas where the transmission cost of electricity is high. Our findings are crucial for developing targeted policies to meet the UN’s seventh Sustainable Development Goal, which focuses on ensuring affordable and clean energy in Pakistan and other developing countries.

Article Details

How to Cite
Irfan, Muhammad, Michael Cameron, and Waqar Akram. 2025. “Household Adoption of Solar Energy in Pakistan: Insights from Nationally Representative Data for Achieving Seventh Sustainable Development Goal”. Journal of Energy and Development 50 (1):21–40. https://doi.org/10.56476/jed.v50i1.71.
Issue
Vol. 50 No. 1 (2025): The Journal of Energy and Development
Section
Articles
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Author Biographies

Muhammad Irfan, Applied Economics at Unitec, Auckland, New Zealand

Muhammad Irfan is a Lecturer in Applied Economics at Unitec, Auckland, New Zealand. He previously served as an Assistant Professor at Xiamen University Malaysia and as a Research Fellow at both the University of Otago and the University of Waikato. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Waikato, with a specialization in energy, environmental, and health economics. His research has been published in leading journals, including Energy Policy, PLOS Medicine, and Environmental Science and Pollution Research.

Michael Cameron, School of Accounting, Finance, and Economics, University of Waikato, New Zealand

Michael Cameron is a Professor of Economics in the School of Accounting, Finance, and Economics (SAFE) at the University of Waikato, and a Research Associate at Te Ngira – Institute for Population Research. He holds leadership roles as Vice President of the Population Association of New Zealand (PANZ) and Vice President – New Zealand of the Australia New Zealand Regional Science Association International (ANZRSAI). His research has been published in esteemed journals such as World Development, Population and Environment, Population Research and Policy Review, Journal of Population Research, and Energy Policy. 

Waqar Akram, School of Accounting, Finance, and Economics, University of Waikato, New Zealand

Waqar Akram holds a Ph.D. in Economics and is a seasoned academic and researcher with many years of experience in various academic and administrative roles. He is currently teaching at Waikato University, New Zealand. His research focuses on framework-based, policy-oriented studies, and he has published in prestigious journals, including the South Asian Journal of Macroeconomics and Public Finance, Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Sustainable Production and Consumption, and Journal of Cleaner Production. 

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