Fact Checking the Arab Media

On October 11, 2021, journalist Radwan Mortada published a piece in the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar with the provocative headline: “Using the sun is forbidden!” The reference to the sun was a nod to the increasing use of solar panels to generate electricity for Lebanese, most of whom receive less than an hour or two a day of electricity from the state.

Lebanon has been experiencing one of the worst economic recessions in modern history, according to the World Bank. Although electricity supplied was always spotty since almost the beginning of the Lebanese civil war in 1975, the last two years of pronounced crisis - and huge increases in fuel prices internationally - has meant that Lebanese increasingly rely on private generators for electricity (if they can afford the service). Given the jump in fuel prices over the last several months in particular, and a widespread recognition that the state is unlikely to provide continuous electricity supplies for quite some time, many Lebanese have turned to investments in private solar panels.

Although the headline for Mortada’s piece exaggerates the situation - solar panels have not suddenly become “forbidden” - the rest of his article explains, accurately, that both national and local responsible agencies are indeed cracking down on violations of the relevant laws governing solar panels in an effort to get a better regulatory handle on the proliferation of solar panels, thus minimizing safety risks to citizens and the electricity network in general, as well as, they hope, reducing the number of disputes between citizens that has apparently cropped up as a result.

Mortada adds a critical note, however, that, “as with everything, chaos reigns in the solar panel installation market… And the ‘state,’ as usual, intervened late to ‘organize’ it.” The security forces, he went on to explain, are now proactively identifying “violations” in panel installations, for example when a supporting metal structure isn’t properly employed, as required by law, or when a panel is installed without a license from the state.

Mortada further cites his interview with Interior and Municipalities Minister Bassam al-Mawlawi, who tells the journalist: “only yesterday I signed 33 license requests [for solar panel installation]....We seek to regulate the matter in the interest of public safety.”

Thus, although the headline for the piece is plainly false in suggesting that solar panels have suddenly been “forbidden” - the Interior minister himself says on the record in the piece that he is currently signing approvals for solar panels - it is true that solar panel installations in Lebanon are now subject to greater regulatory oversight which could indeed “forbid” certain installations that don’t meet the legal requirements. In all cases, it will certainly be more burdensome to install solar panels in the future than previously was the case.