Peak hours in Pakistan: timings by season, and what they cost a solar home

If you have solar, the peak window is where most of your bill comes from. Your panels earn credit in the daytime, but they can’t help after sunset, and that’s exactly when electricity is most expensive.

Official peak and off-peak timings

This is the PITC schedule for the ex-WAPDA distribution companies (LESCO, IESCO, FESCO, GEPCO, MEPCO, PESCO, HESCO, SEPCO, QESCO, TESCO and HAZECO):

Source: PITC peak and off-peak timing. Some websites publish different windows for individual DISCOs; the PITC table is the official one.

What a peak unit costs in 2026

NEPRA’s tariff rationalisation, notified in February 2026 (S.R.O. 279(I)/2026), set these rates for domestic time-of-use connections (A-1b, 5 kW and above):

Fuel price adjustment, quarterly adjustment and the fixed charge come on top (see FPA, fixed charges and taxes).

Why the peak window matters more with solar

On a net-metering bill, peak exports are netted only against peak imports. Off-peak exports can’t reduce your peak units. Since panels produce almost nothing in the evening, the peak band is nearly always net positive, and charged in full at Rs 46.85.

Our sample LESCO household imported 327 peak units in September and exported 1. Over the quarter it owed for 948 peak units, which cost Rs 44,414 before tax, more than its entire daytime surplus earned. See why your bill is still high.

How much moving load out of peak saves

For a solar home that already exports in the daytime, moving one unit of use from the peak window into daylight does two things: it avoids a Rs 46.85 peak unit, and it uses a unit that would otherwise have been exported for Rs 25.32. The gain is the difference:

(46.85 − 25.32) × 1.18 GST ≈ Rs 25 per unit moved
3 units a day × 30 days      = 90 units ≈ Rs 2,290 a month

Avoiding the unit entirely, rather than moving it, saves the full Rs 55 per unit after tax.

Practical ways to stay out of peak

• Pre-cool in the afternoon. Run inverter ACs harder from 2 to 6 PM while panels are producing, then raise the set-point to 26–27 °C during the peak window.
• Move the big loads. Washing machine, dryer, iron, water pump, water heater and dishwasher are easy to run before sunset.
• Fill the water tank in daylight. A motor running for 30 minutes in the evening is a peak cost you don’t need.
• Charge in the day. Laptops, power banks, UPS batteries and e-bikes.
• Know the switch-over. The window shifts by an hour each season. A routine set for summer (peak from 7 PM) costs more in winter, when peak starts at 5 PM.
• Consider a battery. A battery charged from solar and discharged in the peak window replaces the most expensive units on your bill. Whether it pays back depends on its price and lifespan; see is solar still worth it in 2026.

Check your own peak share

Look at the IMP-PK register on your bill. Divide it by total imports (IMP-OP + IMP-PK). If more than about a quarter of your grid use falls in the peak window, shifting load is the cheapest saving you can make. Solar Bill shows your peak share and what shifting a few units a day would save, worked out from your own rates.