QUEER HOW THE rIGHT HATES SUCH INDEPENDENCE:

Lebanon's national grid has struggled to meet the population's full electricity requirements since the country's civil war began in 1975, forcing consumers to rely on expensive neighbourhood generators to fill the gaps. The civil war ended in 1990 but the grid problems continued. The state provider, Electricity of Lebanon (EDL), ceased supplying power altogether in 2021, when it ran out of fuel, plunging the country into near total blackouts. In Beirut, the blackouts continued for over a year and a half, with EDL only able to provide electricity for an average of 3-4 hours per day.

This was only one symptom of multiple new crises in the country, which started in 2019 with an economic and currency crisis deemed by the World Bank as "one of the top ten, possibly top three, most severe economic collapses worldwide since the 1850s". Inflation in Lebanon reached 171% in 2022.

Amidst the crisis, for many families rooftop solar panels have become a stand-in for both grid-supplied electricity and private diesel generators. While it remains an imperfect solution, Lebanon's situation has shown the power of solar and how it can provide a source of clean and reliable electricity when other electricity systems break down.

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