Registration status: closed
Registration for CM Punjab Free Solar Panel Scheme closed after a short window that ran from December 2024 to 5 January 2025. A digital ballot followed in March 2025, and 94,483 beneficiaries were selected from the applications received. Installations continued through 2025 and into 2026 for those selected households.
Anyone visiting the portal today will find registrations closed. No new application window has opened on the portal since the ballot. Readers should treat any link or message promising a fresh registration form for this scheme with suspicion unless the official portal itself shows a new window.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Registration window | December 2024 to 5 January 2025 |
| Ballot | March 2025 digital ballot |
| Beneficiaries selected | 94,483 households |
| Overall target | 100,000 free solar systems |
| New applications | Closed |
| Cash alternative | None offered |
One online guide mentions a six-month extension of the installation timeline to December 2026, covering more than 94,000 systems. Portal status still shows registrations closed, so that mention should not be read as a new chance to apply. Only a fresh announcement on the official portal would change the position.
What each free system includes
Selected households receive a complete solar system at no charge. Guides describe the kits in a range from 550 watts to 1,100 watts, with the exact kit size depending on the consumer category. Each system comes as a package rather than as separate parts bought by the household.
| Part of the package | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Solar panel | Main generating unit for the home |
| Inverter | Converts solar power for household use |
| Battery | Stores power for use when the sun is down |
| Wiring | Connects the system inside the home |
No cash payment was offered instead of a system. Households selected in the ballot receive equipment and installation, not money in a bank account. Anyone demanding payment for a “solar panel cash grant” under this scheme name is not describing this programme.
Who qualified for the ballot
Eligibility was tied to the household electricity record, not to income alone. Only domestic consumers could enter, and the key test was the June 2024 electricity bill.
| Consumer category in June 2024 | Bill limit |
|---|---|
| Lifeline consumers | Up to 50 units |
| Lifeline consumers | 51 to 100 units |
| Protected and unprotected consumers | 0 to 100 units |
| Protected and unprotected consumers | 101 to 200 units |
Sanctioned load also mattered. Households qualified only where sanctioned load stood at 2 kilowatts or less. Larger sanctioned loads fell outside the scheme even where the June 2024 bill stayed within 200 units.
Four exclusions applied on top of the bill and load tests:
- Electricity theft recorded against the connection
- A defective meter on the connection
- Multiple meters registered at the same residence
- More than three late bill payments in the previous twelve months
Households meeting the bill limit and the load limit still lost their place where any one of those four problems applied. Applicants were therefore judged on billing discipline as well as on consumption level.
How CM Punjab Free Solar Panel Scheme registration and the ballot worked
Registration stayed open for roughly one month. Applicants used one of two routes, and both routes led to the same ballot pool.
- Open cmsolarscheme.punjab.gov.pk and complete the online registration form.
- Send an SMS to 8800 carrying the electricity reference number and the CNIC number.
- Wait for verification of the bill record and the sanctioned load.
- Enter the digital ballot held in March 2025.
- Receive installation after selection, with no further application step.
No agent or middleman formed part of the process. Registration went directly through the portal or the SMS short code, and selection came through the ballot rather than through any local office recommendation.
How to check a ballot result now
Ballot result checking remains available on the portal even though registration has closed. Selected households can confirm their position through the official route below.
- Open cmsolarscheme.punjab.gov.pk in a browser.
- Open the ballot result section shown on the portal and follow the check it provides.
Households that find their names in the result should wait for the installation process linked to their selection. Households that do not find their names were not selected in the March 2025 ballot, and no waiting list or second ballot has been announced on the portal.
Roshan Gharana paid arm is a separate offer
Confusion often comes from a second offer announced under the Roshan Gharana name. That paid arm worked on different terms from the free scheme described above, and readers should keep the two apart.
- An early plan covered 50,000 one-kilowatt systems for consumers using up to 100 units.
- A later version covered consumers using 50 to 500 units, with 90 percent of the cost borne by the government and 10 percent paid by the consumer in instalments.
No portal, SMS code, or application window could be found for that paid arm. Anyone sharing a registration link for a paid Roshan Gharana package is not pointing to an official window found for this scheme. Readers should rely only on the free scheme portal named above for anything connected to this programme.
What happens if you missed the window
Missing the December 2024 to January 2025 window for the CM Punjab Free Solar Panel Scheme means missing this round entirely. No late applications were accepted after the portal closed, and no second registration round has been announced on the portal.
Households that still want solar support have two sensible options. First, keep an eye on the official portal for any future round, since any new phase would appear there before anywhere else. Second, ignore unofficial forms and paid agents, since no authorised agent collected applications for this scheme.
Frequently asked questions
No. Registration closed after the window that ended on 5 January 2025. Ballot result checking remains available on the portal, but no new applications are being accepted.
Applicants sent their electricity reference number and CNIC number by SMS to 8800 during the open window. That route closed with registration, and sending the same SMS now does not create an application.
Guides describe kits in a range from 550 watts to 1,100 watts, with a panel and inverter included, plus a battery and wiring. Exact kit size depended on the consumer category of each selected household.
No. Selected households received equipment and installation. No cash grant formed part of this scheme, and claims of a solar cash payment under this scheme name do not match the programme.
No. Roshan Gharana also covered a paid arm with instalment terms for higher consumption levels. No application window could be found for that paid arm, while the free scheme ran its own registration and ballot before installation began.
