{"id":324664,"date":"2026-06-08T19:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/?p=324664"},"modified":"2026-06-08T06:04:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T21:04:08","slug":"north-korea-solar-power-electricity-shortage-costs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-solar-power-electricity-shortage-costs\/","title":{"rendered":"Solar power touted as fix for North Korea&#8217;s electricity crisis, but few can afford it"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">North Korean authorities are actively encouraging state institutions, enterprises, and neighborhood watch units to generate their own electricity through solar power as the country&#8217;s chronic energy shortages show no signs of easing. But the steep upfront cost of the necessary equipment means that, in practice, only those with access to significant funds are able to install it, a source in North Pyongan province told Daily NK on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Yomju county, lectures are being held at institutions, enterprises, and neighborhood watch units in which the solar setups already operating at select facilities are held up as success stories, the source said. The message being promoted is that, given the instability of state electricity supply, units must take responsibility for securing their own power, particularly in sectors where electricity directly determines productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The urgency is especially acute in livestock farming. After last summer&#8217;s extreme heat caused significant losses across the sector in Yomju county, the need for reliable power to run cooling equipment became impossible to ignore. Without cooling systems to regulate temperatures inside livestock facilities, animals die and output falls, yet state-supplied electricity cannot reliably meet that need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Costs remain out of reach for most<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Demand for solar equipment is real, but the price of a full system is a serious obstacle. A functional solar setup requires not just panels but also a high-capacity battery to store electricity and a converter to switch between direct and alternating current, and the combined cost of all components is prohibitive for most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A source said that even units acknowledge solar power is the most practical solution available. &#8220;Each unit recognizes that solar power generation is the most realistic way to solve the electricity problem, but the initial cost is so high that they have no choice but to agonize over it,&#8221; the source said. &#8220;There is no shortage of people saying that it may sound great in theory, but the upfront costs are just too large.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For a private household seeking a setup capable of running a refrigerator, television, washing machine, and electric fan with reasonable reliability, the initial outlay comes to more than 20,000 Chinese yuan (approximately $2,750). That sum is comparable to the price of a house in a mid-sized provincial city and is beyond the reach of most institutions, let alone individual families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Units that need to power production equipment face even greater costs, as they require higher electricity capacity. &#8220;The initial cost is already daunting, and now they are being told to normalize production through solar power generation as well,&#8221; the source said. &#8220;In the end, only units with money are moving forward with installation, and the rest can only watch.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In practice, solar equipment is currently being adopted mainly by enterprises with independent revenue streams, foreign currency-earning units, and relatively better-off North Korean people. The self-reliance approach being promoted by authorities as a solution to the electricity crisis is playing out on the ground in a way that mirrors existing economic divides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Demand is nonetheless growing. Once installed, a solar system generates power independently over the long term, which North Korean people and institutions increasingly see as its decisive advantage. The source noted that using solar power for basic lighting has become commonplace among ordinary North Korean people, and that demand is now shifting toward larger systems capable of covering a household&#8217;s full range of electricity needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Whether or not a private home has solar panels has become a marker of living standards,&#8221; the source said. &#8220;Enterprises also see solar power generation as the fastest way to solve the electricity problem, so demand for related equipment will continue to grow.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/20260605-4\/\">Read in Korean<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n<!-- Daily NK \u2014 A Note to Readers \u2014 End of Article Pattern -->\n<div style=\"background:#1a1a1a;border-top:3px solid #cc0000;padding:0;margin-top:32px;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;\">\n  <div style=\"padding:20px 24px 24px;\">\n\n    <!-- Header row -->\n    <div style=\"display:flex;align-items:center;gap:12px;margin-bottom:14px;\">\n      <span style=\"background:#cc0000;color:#fff;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:9px;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:.15em;text-transform:uppercase;padding:3px 8px;flex-shrink:0;\">A Note to Readers<\/span>\n      <div style=\"flex:1;height:1px;background:#333;\"><\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <!-- Intro line -->\n    <p style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:15px;color:#fff;font-weight:normal;line-height:1.4;margin:0 0 12px;\">Reporting from inside North Korea<\/p>\n\n    <!-- Body -->\n    <p style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:13px;color:#bbb;line-height:1.75;margin:0 0 16px;\">\n      Daily NK operates networks of sources inside North Korea who document events in real-time and transmit information through secure channels. 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Daily NK serves as a bridge between North Koreans and the outside world, documenting what&#8217;s happening inside one of the world&#8217;s most closed societies.\n    <\/p>\n\n    <!-- CTA row -->\n    <div style=\"border-top:1px solid #333;padding-top:16px;display:flex;align-items:center;gap:16px;flex-wrap:wrap;\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/how-we-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"\n         style=\"background:#cc0000;color:#fff;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:.08em;text-transform:uppercase;padding:9px 16px;text-decoration:none;flex-shrink:0;\">How We Report<\/a>\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/mailchi.mp\/830d12539ead\/dnkweeklybriefing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"\n         style=\"background:transparent;color:#cc0000;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:.08em;text-transform:uppercase;padding:9px 0;text-decoration:none;border-bottom:1px solid #cc0000;flex-shrink:0;\">Subscribe to Our Weekly Briefing<\/a>\n    <\/div>\n\n  <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- End Daily NK \u2014 A Note to Readers -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>North Korean authorities are actively encouraging state institutions, enterprises, and neighborhood watch units to generate their own electricity through solar power as the country&#8217;s chronic energy shortages show no signs of easing. But the steep upfront cost of the necessary equipment means that, in practice, only those with access to significant funds are able to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":256,"featured_media":324665,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wikipediapreview_detectlinks":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,645,1360],"tags":[696,714,955,1002,2611],"class_list":["post-324664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-economy","category-society","tag-north-pyongan-province","tag-economy","tag-workers","tag-electricity","tag-jangmadang"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>North Korea pushes solar power amid electricity crisis<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"North Korea is promoting solar power to ease 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