When Parliament Chose to Lead by Example

A parliament is where a country debates its future. In Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe, that future is debated inside a building that also faces a very immediate challenge: keeping the lights on.

Malawi has one of the world’s lowest levels of electricity access. World Bank data for 2024 put electricity access at approximately 25.9% of the population, with rural access only around 3.8%. Limited and unreliable electricity supply creates consequences far beyond households, affecting institutions, businesses and public services.

For Malawi’s Parliament, reliable electricity is essential.

Parliamentary proceedings require lighting, computers, communications, broadcasting, printing, and digital systems. An interruption in power can interrupt much more than a meeting. In response to this challenge, the International Solar Alliance supported the solarisation of Malawi’s Parliament as a demonstration project.

Commissioned in April 2024, the project included a 25 kWp grid-connected solar system integrated with a carport structure. ISA’s project documentation estimates that the system can save approximately 44 MWh of electricity each year and avoid around 33 tonnes of CO₂ emissions annually.

But the project’s value cannot be measured only in kilowatt-hours.

A national institution adopting solar, sends a signal. It says that clean energy is not a technology reserved for rural communities or private homes. It can be part of the infrastructure of the government itself. And there is a deeper message for a country where electricity access remains low:

If solar can help keep the national Parliament running, it can help power many other essential institutions too. It can power schools, health centres, public offices, businesses, community facilities, and much more. Malawi’s Parliament therefore becomes more than a demonstration site. It becomes a visible example of how a country can use its abundant solar resource to reduce pressure on conventional electricity supply and demonstrate practical renewable-energy solutions.