"Ekniti" unveils the "Solar Credit" model, a new credit innovation driving household solar panel installations, targeting 500,000 households to reduce electricity expenses and gas imports.
On 7 Aug 2026 GMT+7, Mr. Ekniti Nitithanprapas, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, revealed that addressing high electricity costs and reducing reliance on natural gas is vital, as Thailand currently imports up to 60% of natural gas used for power generation. This directly impacts citizens’ electricity costs. Promoting solar panel installation among households and businesses is thus a key strategy to lower energy expenses. The "Solar Credit" program is open to the public, project owners, factories, and qualified businesses approved by the screening committee.
Mr. Ekniti highlighted the "Solar Credit" model allowing installation first and repayment based on electricity usage behavior, a major project feature. This represents a new loan approval method (Alternative Credit Score) focusing on people’s electricity consumption patterns to facilitate easier access to solar installation without upfront lump-sum payments. So far, the Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA) and Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) have submitted projects to the screening committee for review.
Regarding installation and operations, participants must choose to install solar systems through the Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA) or Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) to ensure proper system connection per regulations and enable selling excess electricity back to the government. The installations will be sized at 5 kilowatts (5 kW), costing approximately 95,000 to over 100,000 baht. Interested businesses or citizens must be selected and approved by the committee and subcommittee chaired by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance.
The program plans to involve state banks such as the Government Housing Bank (GHB) or Government Savings Bank (GSB), offering low-interest loans as the primary financing mechanism under the "Solar Credit" model. The new loan evaluation criteria (Alternative Credit Score) focus on citizens’ electricity usage behavior rather than conventional income documents. This new loan approval approach aims to make solar panel installation more accessible, especially for households.
Support is designed so participants "do not pay an upfront lump sum" initially. State banks cover the entire installation cost but offer incentives such as discounts (for example, up to 2,000 baht) in the first year. Participants immediately enjoy electricity bill discounts; by year three, they pay little more than their usual expenses, and by year five, they start seeing clear profits or greater savings (for example, saving 7 parts out of 10 instead of 5).
Additionally, participants can choose to install through electricity authorities (MEA/PEA) to ensure compliance and enable selling surplus electricity back to the government, generating additional income. The project targets about 500,000 participants.