Pakistan's seat of government in Islamabad, called the Majlis-e-Shoora, is now 100 percent powered by solar energy following the completion of a 1 MW solar PV rooftop array.  It's the first world capital to achieve this benchmark.

The AU$74 Million project was a joint venture with China, and came up rapidly after being announced during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Islamabad last year.  Although workers completed the project which began producing energy last week even as lawmakers worked inside, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is expected to "switch on" the program in a formal ceremony later this month.

"This is the first project of its kind (in a public building) in Pakistan, and later more public buildings will be converted to solar power to overcome the energy crisis," said Special secretary at the National Assembly, Munawar Abbas Shah.  "The consumption of electricity in the parliament even jumps over two megawatts in summers when the house is in session," he added.

But the solar array was designed to exceed the government's demands.  It 80 megawatts of electricity, 62 of which are consumed by the national assembly.  The rest is fed directly into Pakistan's grid.  Taking electricity right off of the roof is expected to save Parliament about AU$1.4 Million annually.

Israel's Knesset building has a smaller solar on its roof, providing ten percent of the building's power requirements.