By Abbas Nazil
Morocco has unveiled the Solar Rooftop 500 program in Casablanca, a new carbon finance-backed initiative designed to accelerate commercial and industrial solar self-production across the country.
The program aims to deploy 500 megawatts of rooftop and canopy photovoltaic capacity by 2030, marking Morocco’s first concrete implementation of Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement.
Developed through a partnership involving the Renewable Energy Cluster, Africa Climate Solutions and the Swiss Embassy, the initiative allows enterprises to generate clean electricity while earning carbon revenues from avoided emissions.
SR500 targets solar installations of up to three megawatts per site for internal consumption by industrial and tertiary businesses, with optional battery storage systems.
Projects can be financed through bank loans, leasing arrangements or equity investment, but cannot benefit from other public subsidies or revenue from selling surplus power to the grid.
Africa Climate Solutions will aggregate projects, oversee measurement, reporting and verification processes, coordinate independent verifiers and manage the transfer of carbon revenues to participating companies.
The Renewable Energy Cluster will ensure quality standards for solar equipment and installers to maintain technical reliability across projects.
The carbon financing structure provides an initial payment of 60 percent after project installation, followed by annual payments of the remaining 40 percent based on verified emissions reductions.
Switzerland will acquire the resulting carbon credits through the Klik Foundation to meet its climate commitments, while Moroccan enterprises gain predictable financial support for clean energy investments.
The official launch brought together around 300 participants from government agencies, financial institutions, the solar industry and the business community.
Swiss Ambassador Valentin Zellweger said the program’s 500-megawatt target is comparable in scale to Morocco’s major solar infrastructure projects and represents tangible climate cooperation between the two countries.
Officials from Morocco’s Energy Transition Ministry described SR500 as a model of international collaboration that supports industrial decarbonization within transparent systems that prevent double counting of emissions reductions.
The initiative builds on recent regulatory reforms, including Law 82-21 on energy self-production and certification frameworks that ensure traceability of renewable electricity.
Authorities believe these policies create the conditions for large-scale adoption of rooftop solar by Moroccan enterprises.
Beyond cutting emissions, the program is expected to improve business competitiveness by lowering energy costs and providing new revenue streams linked to carbon markets.
The launch reinforces Morocco’s growing role as a regional leader in renewable energy deployment and innovative climate finance mechanisms.