Thailand offers $1.5bn household solar subsidies

Thailand offered subsidies worth up to $1.5 billion on Monday to help households install solar panels, as the government seeks to expand renewable energy and reduce reliance on costly imports.

The government offered almost $1,500, or 50,000 baht, toward installation costs for up to one million households. It also promised low-interest loans and tax benefits for people fitting solar panels to homes or land.

Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas said Thailand imports a large amount of energy and that this was “not a sustainable solution.”

Ekniti said the solar panel subsidy is expected to be approved at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, with applications opening soon after. It will be funded from a 400-billion-baht emergency borrowing package announced earlier this year to cushion economic impacts from the Middle East war.

Government data for January to July 2026 shows around 60 percent of Thailand's electricity production came from natural gas, while renewables made up almost 11 percent. Imported liquefied natural gas accounted for 32 percent of Thailand's natural gas during the period.

Thailand aims to generate 51 percent of domestic electricity from renewable sources by 2037.