Panicked consumers in hard-hit Asia are turning to rooftop solar power as costs climb due to the Iran war. China is the biggest provider of clean energy technology and poised to profit from that higher demand. Its exports of solar equipment hit a record high in March as global interest in solar power surged.
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A team of solar installers haul a solar panel onto the roof of a home in Manila, Philippines, on April 30, 2026. A pair of solar installers haul a solar panel onto the roof of a home in Manila, Philippines, on April 30, 2026. A team of solar installers set up a new rooftop solar system at a home in Manila, Philippines, on May 1, 2026.
A solar installer secures a solar panel onto the roof of a home in Manila, Philippines, on April 30, 2026. A solar installer secures a solar panel onto the roof of a home in Manila, Philippines, on April 30, 2026. A solar installer secures a solar panel onto the roof of a home in Manila, Philippines, on May 1, 2026.
A solar installer secures a solar panel onto the roof of a home in Manila, Philippines, on May 1, 2026. A team of solar installers haul a solar panel onto the roof of a home in Manila, Philippines, on April 30, 2026. A team of solar installers haul a solar panel onto the roof of a home in Manila, Philippines, on April 30, 2026.
A pair of solar installers haul a solar panel onto the roof of a home in Manila, Philippines, on April 30, 2026. A pair of solar installers haul a solar panel onto the roof of a home in Manila, Philippines, on April 30, 2026. A team of solar installers set up a new rooftop solar system at a home in Manila, Philippines, on May 1, 2026.
A team of solar installers set up a new rooftop solar system at a home in Manila, Philippines, on May 1, 2026. , a survey of 20 local solar companies found a 70% increase in weekly installations and a six-fold jump in customer inquirers since the conflict began.
“This crisis is a driving force for solar,” said Brenda Valerio of the nonprofit New Energy Nexus, which ran the survey. “People want solar and people want solar now. ” China is poised to profit from demand caused by the war. Chinese clean technology equipment exports hit a record high in March, according to energy think tank Ember, and worldwide interest in solar increasing.
“China really is, by far, leading this race,” said Li Shuo, director of the Asia Society Policy Institute’s China Climate Hub, who called the renewable industry “a one-man show. ”The Philippines, which relies heavily on Middle Eastern crude oil and liquefied natural gas, is among the most impacted Southeast Asian nations by the closure of theprices also have shot up.
To conserve energy, government offices have shifted to a four-day work week and been told to keep air conditioning no lower than 24 degrees Celsius . Oil and gas spikes during the first 60 days of the Iran war cost Filipino consumers, businesses and public institutions more than $600 million, the climate nonprofit 350.org estimates.
“When we got our energy bill after the Iran war broke out, we were very shocked. It was wow. It was a significant increase,” said Jaime Quemado, who recently bought a rooftop solar system in Manila. There also have been growing concerns about potential power outages, Quemado said, which led him to look for an alternative energy source like “solar, which is very abundant here in the Philippines.
”Solar groups must “ride this wave and take advantage of this momentum,” Valerio said. On two blisteringly hot days in Manila, EcoSolutions installers sweated through the set up of an 18-kilowatt rooftop solar system, which included 28 panels from major Chinese manufacturer LONGi and four batteries from Suzhou-based battery group Dyness. The war has “helped the solar industry really get its footing,” EcoSolutions president Richmond Reyes said.
Joel Remegio of the Association of Solar Installers of the Philippines said the energy crisis is a “game changer” for the nation’s nascent solar industry. Clean technology, like rooftop solar, is quickly scalable because it is “accessible to all of us,” according to Marissa Cerezo of the Department of Energy’s Renewable Energy Management Bureau. Indonesia set an ambitious target to install 100 gigawatts of rooftop solar by 2034, a leap from its current 1.3 gigawatts.
Vietnam wants to install rooftop solar on at least 10% of public offices and homes nationwide by 2030. Thailand is considering new policies to give rooftop solar users a bigger bang for their buck by increasing the amount of surplus energy the national grid can buy. The energy crisis is incentivizing these decisions, according to Yu Sun Chin of the research group Zero Carbon Analytics.
“It totally makes sense for policymakers to take another look at rooftop solar and see ways that they can save costs,” she said. Online marketplaces and utility companies in the U.S. and across Europe also have recorded jumps in solar sales and inquiries since the Iran war began.
“Solar is definitely one of the easiest things people can do” to cut monthly electricity bills, said Jan Rosenow, a professor of energy and climate policy at Oxford University. The availability and affordability of rooftop solar make it the easiest clean technology solution given the higher expense for buying an electric vehicle or installing a heat pump, Rosenow said.
Ember, the energy think tank, noted China exported 68 gigawatts worth of clean technology products in March, equivalent to Spain’s entire solar capacity and double its February output. The Iran war ishit 10 gigawatts, a 176% jump from February, with rapid growth in Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia. Exports to other Asian nations doubled to 39 gigawatts, including major increases to India, Malaysia and Laos.
Ramnath Iyer of the U.S.-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis said the speed of the transition depends on if world leaders “decide to go ahead with electrification and move away from fossil fuels. ” Li of the China Climate Hub said Chinese companies had an oversupply of solar panels and other equipment before the war, putting them in a prime position to capitalize on current demand.
“When it comes to the clean tech sector, China at this point in time is already so far ahead,” Li said. “The current situation in Iran will help China cement its dominance. ”The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find the AP’s
Energy Industry Renewable Energy Asia Green Technology 2024-2025 Mideast Wars Solar Power General News Jaime Quemado Asia Society Business Iran Government International Trade Philippines Government 2024-2026 Mideast Wars Joel Remegio Iran Brenda Valerio Climate And Environment World News Ramnath Iyer Marissa Cerezo Climate World News
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