As hot summer, blackouts loom, Iraq looks to solar power
Iraq has long suffered through scorching summers that the country's national grid hasn't been able to keep up with. But it was only recently that Hiba al-Amiri's family started to seriously consider getting solar panels installed at home to compensate for the annual summer blacko
Iraq has long suffered through scorching summers that the country's national grid hasn't been able to keep up with. But it was only recently that Hiba al-Amiri's family started to seriously consider getting solar panels installed at home to compensate for the annual summer blackouts .
"In the war, Iranian gas was cut and for four days, we had no electricity," the Baghdad-based teacher told DW. Iran supplies up to 40% of the gas that Iraq needs to keep its power stations running, In March, Iran completely cut gas to Iraq after Israel attacked its gas fields .
"We were only using the generator," al-Amiri continued. "After that, a lot of our neighbors were also talking about this [solar]. Everybody is really starting to think about it seriously."
Installing solar panels in a private household costs somewhere between 5 and 10 million Iraqi dinars (around $3,800-$7,600/€3,200-€6,500), experts told DW. Al-Amiri said she and her brother are now saving money toward that goal, and hope to get a unit by next year.
"The thinking is that we will pay for this project [solar panels] in one year but then after that we won't need to pay for the generator power again," she explained.
Even on its best days, the Iraqi national grid only supplies private households between eight and 12 hours of electricity a day. Ordinary Iraqis compensate for the missing power by paying a subscription to local generator operators. Households in a city like Baghdad might pay between $100 (€86) and $300 a month to keep the lights on.
It's not that Iraqis didn't know about solar power, explained Harry Istepanian, an energy expert and founder of the Washington-based think tank, the Iraq Climate Change Center. "But the generator system was familiar, flexible and required no large upfront investment," he said. "Solar, by contrast, requires capital, reliable equipment, batteries, technical installation and after-sales support."
Additionally, as the International Renewable Energy Agency wrote in a 2025 report , energy tariffs in Iraq are heavily subsidized, which also discourages the private sector from investing in renewables.
