Sindh Free Solar Scheme 2026: Who Gets a Kit and How
Sindh's free solar kits go to poor families on BISP criteria, with no public form. The numbers by source, kit contents and the complaint line.
Sindh's free solar home systems are real and are being installed, but there is no public application form. The Sindh Solar Energy Project and Sindh Energy Department sites have no sign-up page. The Energy Department says kits go to poor families using BISP criteria. For a complaint, the project's line is 021-111-737-467.
The scheme runs under the Sindh Solar Energy Project, known as SSEP, which is backed by the World Bank. Its third part, called Component III, supplies solar home systems to households with little or no electricity.
How families are chosen for Sindh solar kits
The Sindh Energy Department's site quotes Energy Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah saying the distribution "would follow BISP criteria for transparency and merit-based selection". BISP is the Benazir Income Support Programme, the federal cash scheme for poor families.
So the practical steps are:
- Check whether your household is registered with BISP.
- If you are not registered, update your household survey at a BISP office. Selection appears to start from that data.
- If you are on an electricity connection, keep your electricity bills.
- Wait for the district team. The kits are handed out at distribution events and installed by suppliers the project has approved.
- If you think you were wrongly left out, or a kit is faulty, use the complaint line below.
Do not pay anyone to "register" you. Neither official site lists a fee or a form.
How many kits Sindh is giving, by source
Different statements give different totals. They may refer to different phases, so we list each with its source rather than pick one.
| Figure | What it describes | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 162,600 families | First phase | Sindh Energy Department site, quoting the Energy Minister |
| 200,000 families | Total to benefit | Same item, quoting Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon |
| 500,000 more | Next phase | Same item |
| 275,000 households | Current project: 132,000 off-grid families and 143,000 on-grid protected consumers | Officials' briefing to the Sindh Chief Minister, CM House, July 2026 |
The Energy Department also records that the first distribution in Hyderabad Rural went to 100 families.
At a review meeting at the CM House in Karachi in July 2026, officials told Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah that the project costs Rs 18.206 billion under the Annual Development Programme, began in April 2025 and is due to finish in June 2027. They said more than 15,000 kits had been distributed and installed by then.
What is in a Sindh solar kit
The kit described at the July 2026 CM House briefing has a 180 watt solar panel, a control unit with a 30Ah lithium (LiFePO4) battery and charge controller, a mobile charging point, a 25 watt DC pedestal fan and three 5 watt LED lights.
An older item on the Energy Department's site describes a unit that runs three LED bulbs and a 35 watt DC fan, with about six hours of battery backup, at roughly Rs 50,000 each. The item carries no date, so treat the Rs 50,000 and the six hours of backup as a guide to an earlier round, not a current offer. The kit may have changed between rounds.
Either way, this is a small system. It is meant for lights, a fan and phone charging. It will not run a fridge, an iron or an air conditioner. If you want a system that cuts a full bill, you need a much larger rooftop setup.
Where the Sindh solar programme stands
The official sites show these signs of progress:
- The SSEP site records a signing ceremony with solar home system suppliers at the CM House, Karachi, on 3 August 2024, and kit distribution ceremonies in Larkana and Karachi on 29 August 2024.
- Its notifications page lists approved supplier rounds, the latest being Round III, dated 3 February 2023.
- The Energy Department has published a tender to hire a third party firm to check the delivery, installation and operation of solar home systems "for Poor Families (Off-Grid) in Sindh under Special Initiative".
The SSEP site is not a live feed. Its news section still shows stories from 2019 and 2020, and its project box shows two different closing dates, 29 September 2023 and 31 July 2025. So an old date on the site does not mean the programme has ended. Treat district distribution events as the real signal.
How to complain about a Sindh solar kit
The SSEP site has a separate complaint page for solar home systems. It lists:
- Phone: 021-111-737-467, written on the site as 021-111-SEP-GOS.
- Email: SHS_Complaints@ssep.gos.pk.
- A complaint form to download in Urdu, English or Sindhi.
The project office is at Bungalow D-155, Block 5, Clifton, Karachi. Its general numbers are 021-99332107, 021-99332106, 021-99332193 and 021-99332188.
Warning about fake solar registration sites
Search results for this scheme are full of private pages titled "Sindh solar kit registration apply online". None of them is a government site. The real addresses end in gos.pk or gov.pk: ssep.gos.pk for the project and sindhenergy.gov.pk for the Energy Department.
Never give your CNIC, a BISP code or an SMS PIN to a page or caller who promises a kit. Agents already take money from BISP payments. Punjab's free solar panel scheme was different, with an online ballot, and it is now closed.
Common questions
How do I apply for the Sindh free solar scheme?
The official sites carry no application form. The Energy Department says selection follows BISP criteria, so check your BISP registration first.
Who gets a free solar kit in Sindh?
Poor families picked on BISP criteria. The current project covers 132,000 off-grid families and 143,000 on-grid protected consumers, 275,000 households in all.
Is there a fee for the Sindh solar kit?
No fee appears on either official site.
What is the Sindh solar complaint number?
021-111-737-467, with email SHS_Complaints@ssep.gos.pk, both listed on the SSEP complaint page.
Can the kit run a fridge or an AC?
No. The kits described are for lights, a fan and phone charging.
Who runs the Sindh solar programme?
The Project Management Unit of the Sindh Solar Energy Project, under the Energy Department, Government of Sindh, with World Bank funding.
How we verified this
What we checked and where we read it.
Last checked on 22 September 2026. Sources, read that day: ssep.gos.pk, including its Component III, notifications, downloads and solar home system complaint pages, and the news items on sindhenergy.gov.pk. The 275,000 household target, its off-grid and on-grid split, the Rs 18.206 billion cost, the June 2027 finish date and the kit contents come from the officials' briefing to the Sindh Chief Minister at the CM House in July 2026.
About the author
Public Services and Education Journalist
Fajr Riaz is a journalist and content writer at Pakistan Era, based in Lahore. She covers the questions people meet in everyday life in Pakistan: how a public service works, what a change in the rules means, and where to find a reliable answer.
