Nako Dost Muhammad’s night world had been without light for almost a decade.

In the remote village of Kolahu, tucked away in the dusty hills of Tump in Balochistan’s Kech district bordering Iran, darkness was a constant — precluding the hum of a fan, the promise of refrigerated medicine and the safety of a well-lit room. A scorpion’s sting in the night was a crisis met only by the dim, choking flame of a kerosene lamp. From the school in the village to the dispensary nearby, none had power.

This changed a few months ago, when a truck with unfamiliar tools and a curious, maintenance-free battery — the key components of a home solar system, provided under a new scheme by Balochistan’s energy department. Nako was one of 40 people in his village to receive the “home solar solution.”

LET THERE BE LIGHT…

In the vast, sun-scorched expanse of Balochistan — Pakistan’s largest yet most energy-deprived province — a connection to the national power grid is a rarity. Official reports suggest that only about a third of the region is linked, and even those areas suffer from erratic supply.

It is in this void that a transformative force is taking hold, delivered through a grant aid initiative from China. Born from a collaboration with the provincial energy department and China, the programme intends to deliver 15,000 home solar systems to the province’s remote corners. Each kit is a self-contained power source: a 250-watt panel, a charge controller and, most critically, a compact lithium-ion battery — the same technology that powers electric scooters in Karachi and laptops in Lahore.

Lithium-ion batteries, mostly made in China, are electrifying homes and powering dreams, including in the remote corners of Balochistan — an energy revolution in the making. But without local manufacturing or disposal mechanisms, they also raise questions…

For Nako, the technical jargon was meaningless. He knew nothing of “lithium-ion” or the “Guangdong” province stamped on the battery casing. His understanding was beautifully simple: a panel that drank the sunlight, a box that held the day’s energy and the........

© Dawn (Magazines)