AZE.US
Azerbaijan imported solar panels worth 188.4 million manats ($110.8 million) in the first half of 2026, about 101 times more than during the same period last year.
As AZE.US reports, economist Natig Jafarli highlighted the sharp increase, noting that solar panel imports totaled only 1.9 million manats ($1.1 million) in January-June 2025.
Jafarli linked the surge to major renewable energy projects being implemented in Azerbaijan with investment from Arab countries.
However, he argued that the influx of foreign capital should have been used not only to purchase imported equipment but also to develop domestic production.
“If such an opportunity existed, why did we not organize production in our own country?” Jafarli wrote.
According to the economist, expanding renewable energy while remaining fully dependent on imported equipment creates new economic and technological risks. He said Azerbaijan should localize the production of certain components, train domestic specialists and develop its own maintenance infrastructure, service centers and software.
Jafarli also proposed a government support program for households seeking to install solar panels. The initiative could include targeted interest-free loans and a mechanism allowing residents to sell surplus electricity to the national grid.
Such a model could be particularly effective in Azerbaijan’s Aran regions, where abundant sunshine makes household solar systems more productive. Homeowners could reduce their electricity bills while potentially recovering part of the installation costs by selling excess power.
However, the payback period would depend on the price and capacity of the equipment, household consumption, electricity tariffs and the rate offered for surplus power.
Azerbaijan has yet to establish a widely accessible mechanism allowing households to sell electricity generated by rooftop solar panels.
AZE.US