Malaysia is continuing to expand the use of solar power at the community level, with 700 solar-powered street lights approved for installation in Perak in 2026 under the Solar Madani programme.

The initiative is particularly focused on improving public infrastructure in areas where access to conventional electricity infrastructure may be more limited.

According to Perak state executive councillor Teh Kok Lim, 80 solar street-light poles have already been installed in the Larut, Matang and Selama district.

The programme is designed to deliver more than simply improved street lighting.

☀️ Solar as an Alternative to Grid-Dependent Infrastructure

The Perak government highlighted several benefits from deploying solar-powered lighting:

• Reducing dependence on the electricity grid

• Lowering energy costs

• Improving public safety

• Providing lighting in areas with limited conventional electricity infrastructure

• Supporting Malaysia’s broader green technology objectives

This makes solar street lighting particularly relevant to rural and semi-urban areas, where extending conventional electricity infrastructure can be more challenging or costly.

🌱 Solar Madani Connects Renewable Energy With Rural Development

The Solar Madani programme is also part of a broader effort to narrow the development gap between urban and rural communities.

The Perak government is implementing the Kampung Angkat Madani programme across selected villages, while the “Madani Kita” programme provides access to government services and community initiatives.

The combination of renewable-energy infrastructure + rural development suggests that Malaysia’s solar deployment is increasingly extending beyond utility-scale power projects.

Instead of focusing exclusively on large solar farms, solar technology is also being incorporated into:

Public infrastructure → Rural communities → Street lighting → Distributed energy applications

🔎 Why This Matters for Malaysia’s Solar Market

The scale of the individual installations is relatively small compared with Malaysia’s utility-scale solar programmes.

However, the broader policy direction is significant.

Solar-powered infrastructure can provide a practical solution for locations where grid expansion is expensive or where reducing electricity consumption from the grid is a priority.

More importantly, these projects demonstrate how Malaysia's renewable-energy transition is gradually expanding into distributed and community-level applications.

The key question going forward is whether similar programmes can be scaled across other states and integrated with broader initiatives for solar, energy efficiency, distributed generation and energy storage.

Malaysia’s solar transition may therefore be developing on two fronts: large-scale solar for the power system, and distributed solar for communities and public infrastructure.