Solar for Mosques and Madrassas

This guide is for mosque committees, madrassa administrators and donors in Punjab. It covers load patterns, batteries, phasing and what to check before you collect funds.

How a mosque uses electricity

A mosque's load is not like a home's or a shop's. It rises sharply around prayer times and is light in between.

Other loads include water pumps for wuzu and washrooms, a water cooler, the imam's or caretaker's quarters, and, in a madrassa, classrooms and hostel rooms.

The key point: Friday prayers bring the largest crowd and the largest cooling load of the week, at midday, when solar output is high. Evening prayers and Ramadan nights need stored energy or the grid.

Diagram

Mosque and madrassa loads

Fans and lights

Prayer-time loads

Water pumps

Wudu area

Backup

During load-shedding

Madrassas: a steadier daytime load

A madrassa attached to a mosque usually adds daytime classes, which suit solar well, and often a hostel with evening and night loads. If the madrassa and mosque share one connection, the combined load is more even through the day, which makes better use of the solar output.

On-grid, hybrid or both?

Our guide to hybrid vs on-grid vs off-grid explains the system types.

Sizing the battery for evening prayers

You do not need to run every AC from the battery. Size it for the loads that matter most during an evening outage: lights, the sound system and a set of fans. A simple method, with round illustrative numbers only:

• For example, if lights, the sound system and ten ceiling fans together draw about 1 kW,
• and you want them to run for about 2 hours across Maghrib and Isha during load-shedding,
• you need about 2 kWh of usable battery energy, plus a margin for battery ageing and losses.

ACs change the picture a lot, so treat AC backup as a separate decision. Our battery sizing guide walks through the full method, and solar for AC explains how much solar an AC needs. For fans, lights and other small loads, see running appliances on solar.

Net billing and Fridays

New solar connections come under NEPRA's net billing rules, notified on 9 February 2026. Units imported from the grid are billed at your normal tariff, and exported units are credited at a much lower rate. System size cannot exceed your sanctioned load. Full details are in our net metering and net billing guide.

For a mosque, this matters because on ordinary weekdays the midday load is smaller than on Fridays. If the system is sized to cover a full Friday crowd, much of the weekday surplus will be exported at the lower rate. A battery can store some of that surplus for Maghrib and Isha. A sensible design looks at the whole week, not just Friday.

Which tariff category your mosque or madrassa falls under depends on how your distribution company has classified the connection. Check your bill first; our guide on how to read your electricity bill shows where to look.

Donations and phased budgets

Many mosque solar systems are funded by the community, and money often comes in stages. Solar can be built in phases, but only if phase one is designed with the final system in mind.

1. Phase 1: panels and an inverter for the main midday load. Choose an inverter size and type that can take more panels and, if wanted, a battery later.
2. Phase 2: more panels as funds allow.
3. Phase 3: a battery for Maghrib, Isha and Taraweeh.

Points to settle from the start:

• Inverter inputs and capacity for future panels.
• A structure layout that leaves room for the next rows.
• Cable and breaker sizes that suit the final system.
• Whether the chosen hybrid inverter supports the battery you plan to add later.

Our guide to adding batteries or more panels to an existing system explains what can go wrong when phase two was not planned. Some committees also look at bank financing; see solar on installments.

Transparency for donors

Donors rightly want to know where their money goes. Ask for a detailed quotation with brand, model, quantity and warranty for each item, and share it with the committee. Our guide to comparing solar quotations lists what a proper BOQ should show. Keep the warranty papers and inverter monitoring login with the committee, not with one individual.

Roofs, domes and safety

• Roof space. Domes and minarets cast shade, and roof space may be limited. Elevated structures over a courtyard or roof can add space and shade worshippers below. See L2, L3 and elevated structures.
• Water tanks. Rooftop tanks for wuzu shade panels and add weight; the layout must work around them.
• Cable safety. DC cables run in conduit; the inverter and battery sit in a locked, ventilated room, away from children in the madrassa.
• Earthing and lightning. Minarets and tall structures attract lightning. Proper earthing and surge protection are essential. See earthing and surge protection.
• Work timing. Installation work is planned between prayer times, so it does not disturb worshippers.

Government programmes

In November 2025, Punjab's Auqaf Department announced a decision to speed up solar installation in mosques and shrines. Auqaf manages a set of mosques and shrines under its own administration, so this does not automatically cover privately managed mosques. Committees of other mosques should check with Auqaf directly rather than wait.

Mosque solar system price

See our complete solar system price guide for general system sizes. Our projects start from about 6 kW.

How Solar Works Pakistan can help

Solar Works Pakistan is a solar EPC, engineering and trading company founded in 2021, headquartered in Faisalabad with a branch in Lahore. We have served 300+ customers.

• In-house load analysis and AutoCAD design, including phased plans.
• Structures designed in-house and assembled on site by our own team, with a 3-year structure warranty.
• Own installation teams, with testing and safe commissioning before handover.
• A detailed BOQ for the committee, with brand, model and the manufacturer's warranty per product.
• A 1-year service warranty under applicable project terms, and a 48-hour target to send service personnel after a complaint is registered.

Get today's price or a free site survey

Send us 12 months of bills and tell us which prayers you want covered during load-shedding. We will suggest a system and, if needed, a phased plan the committee can fund step by step.

• WhatsApp or call: 0336 666 4321
• Email: info@solarworks.pk
• Head office: Main Boulevard, Sargodha Rd, Block F FDA City, Faisalabad
• Lahore branch: 2nd Floor, Jeff Heights, Gulberg, Lahore
• Hours: 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM, daily

We serve mosques and madrassas throughout Punjab, and site surveys are normally free. You can also contact us online.

Frequently asked questions

What size solar system does a mosque need?

It depends on the fans, ACs and other loads used at Zuhr, Asr and Friday prayers, and on your sanctioned load. A site survey and 12 months of bills set the size. Under net billing, sizing for the whole week, not just Friday, usually makes better sense.

Will solar run the mosque during Maghrib and Isha?

Only with a battery or the grid. Panels stop producing around sunset. A battery sized for lights, the sound system and some fans can keep essentials running through evening load-shedding.

Can we install solar in phases as donations come in?

Yes, if phase one is designed for the final system. Choose an inverter that can take more panels and a battery later, and leave structure space for the next rows.

Can solar run the mosque ACs?

Yes, during the day, if enough panels are installed. Running ACs from a battery after sunset needs a much larger battery, so many mosques back up fans and lights only and use the grid for evening ACs.

Does the Punjab government give free solar to mosques?

Punjab's Auqaf Department announced plans in late 2025 to speed up solar in the mosques and shrines it manages. Other mosques should check with Auqaf directly; we are not part of any government scheme.

How should the committee check a quotation?

Ask for a BOQ listing brand, model, quantity and warranty for each item, and compare like with like. Keep the warranty papers and monitoring login with the committee.

Sources

1. Punjab Auqaf and Religious Affairs Department, "Decision to accelerate installation of solar panels in mosques/shrine" (19 Nov 2025)
2. Net billing facts are carried over from our net metering and net billing guide, which lists its own sources, including the NEPRA (Prosumer) Regulations, 2026, SRO 251(I)/2026: https://ke.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/8.-NEPRA-Prosumer-Regulations-SRO-251I2026-09-02-26.pdf