A research team based in Italy and Pakistan has examined the socio-technical implications of installing solar microgrids in rural off-grid communities in Pakistan.
The research covered three rural communities located near Jahanpur in the Punjab province of central-eastern Pakistan, each predominantly engaged in agricultural activities.
In the village of Bismillah Mor, the researchers conducted a qualitative analysis of a deployed solar-powered minigrid with battery storage, as well as a qualitative study in the area consisting of interviews with stakeholders, focus groups and direct field observations to gather data on how the community exercises ownership and everyday use of the minigrid system.
Similar quantitative analysis, consisting of two focus groups and ethnographic observations, was carried out at two additional rural communities in the same area, one in the village of Wal Wala, which is grid-connected but without a microgrid, and another at Hadden Wala, which is grid-connected and also supplied with a solar minigrid.
The researchers found that in Bismillah Mor, the solar microgrid has provided a “partial, yet significant” response to energy poverty, giving the community stable access to electricity for essential domestic needs, including lighting and small household appliances. The microgrid was also found to foster forms of empowerment and emancipation, particularly for women, leading the researchers to conclude that the microgrid is “not merely a technological solution but a potential catalyst for broader social change.”
In Wal Wala, the other community with partial land ownership, access to the national electricity grid fostered a cautious approach to energy consumption, with usage deliberately limited to avoid higher costs, the researchers found. In contrast, in Hadden Wala, where the communities are mostly landowners, better economic conditions have facilitated access to the national grid, in turn influencing material culture.
Ivano Scotti, the research paper’s corresponding author, told pv magazine the key insight from the study is that energy innovation becomes meaningful and sustainable only once it is socially embedded. He added that factors such as land tenure and property relations play a decisive role in shaping how people understand and engage with new technologies.
Scotti also said the findings revealed that local actors do not passively adopt technology but actively reinterpret, modify, and adapt it to their needs, generating new forms of practical and cognitive ownership.
“In this sense, the success of the microgrid depends on a hybrid governance arrangement that combines formal technical control with informal, socially negotiated ownership and knowledge,” Scotti said. “Overall, the study demonstrates that ‘doing ownership' – that is, enacting property through daily practices and negotiations – is a key dimension of sustainable energy transitions in rural contexts.”
Scotti added that successfully deploying microgrids – both in Pakistan and other regions of the Global South – depends on recognising that energy infrastructures interact with pre-existing property regimes, local hierarchies and cultural values.
“Technical design must be coupled with capacity building, social inclusion, and governance mechanisms that reflect community structures,” Scotti said. “Strengthening local skills, especially among women and technicians, fosters autonomy and long-term system sustainability.”
Scotti suggested that policy frameworks acknowledge the hybrid nature of property rights in rural areas and should enable shared or collective ownership. He also said business models should be context-sensitive and combine affordability with community participation.
“By integrating these social, technical, and institutional dimensions, the deployment of microgrids can move from being a temporary aid solution to becoming a transformative process that enhances local capabilities and supports a just and durable energy transition,” Scotti added.
The group's findings are presented in the research paper ‘Doing ownership’ in sustainable energy innovation: The social embeddedness of microgrids in rural Pakistan, available in the journal Energy Research & Social Science.
The research team consisted of social scientists from Italy’s University of Naples Federico II and engineers from Pakistan’s Lahore University of Management Sciences. The two universities are partners of the EU-funded LoCEL-H2 project, a four-year Horizon Europe project that is creating a scalable microgrid system to support rural communities that lack consistent energy sources.
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