How Solar power can make your life easier in Nigeria

Posted by Felix Okoli on Saturday July 18, 2020 at 22:15:3:

If you are rich enough and living in Nigeria, one of the cool things you should have is a solar power system. It's a setup or system that can make life easier in a country where the use of electric generators have become so popular. A solar power system will generate electricity for you as long as there is light from the sun and sunlight is something that Nigeria has an abundance of most of the year round.

Electricity supply is insufficient in Nigeria and has been so for many years since the 1980s. Nigeria's demand for electricity far exceeds the supply and one of the smartest thing people are doing is generating their own electricity.

Yes, many people in Africa's most populous nation don't have access to 24 hrs electricity and the importation and maintenance of electric power generators has remained a profitable business.

One problem with those generators is that they contribute to air pollution and so decreases the quality of air in your environment. With solar power, you can live a healthier life by breathing better quality air and this can increase your lifespan.

Another problem with those fuel guzzling generators is that they make a lot of noise. With solar powered electricity, the environment is much quieter and this gives a better peace of mind that allows for creativity and mediation. You can make better decisions that would affect your future positively if you live in a noise free environment but that is something scarce in many Nigerian cities because of noise from electric generators.

The electricity supplied from Nigeria's power company has not been sufficient over many years and it would probably take total privatization of the sector before it becomes more efficient.

The major problem which many people in Nigeria face when it comes to embracing solar power is the initial cost but if you can afford it, its probably the best way to generate your electricity. A solar powered system requires first of all a solar panel whose job is to convert the sun's light into electrical energy and then a battery that can store that electrical energy before it is then used by electrical aplliances. It doesnt have to be too expensive as you can start using solar power even on a low budget to such as one that can keep your mobile phone and tablets fully charged.

The electricity generated by the solar panels and stored in batteries are in form of Direct Current(DC)and may then need to be converted to Alternating current(AC) which is a form mostly needed by many appliances of today. The conversion to AC from DC is normally done by an inverter which is the middleman between the batteries and your appliances.

A 200 watt solar panel can produce 200 Watts of electricity from the sun in.1 hr but if you have the money, you should just get a 2000 watt solar system which is like 10 units of 200 watt solar panel and a unit costs about N40,000 today. So 10 units will cost about N400,000. If you have a 2000 watt solar panel, you can generate about 2kwh of electricity in your home per hr of sunlight and in 4 hrs it becomes 8kwh. For that, you would need a battery bank that can store that amount of energy.

The type of battery used in a solar power system is called a deep cycle battery and a 12V 200Ah battery is sold for about N120,000 per unit. You can start with a single unit but you'd need more to use it to power more appliances for a longer time. A 12V 200Ah battery can provide 2400 Watts of power but its safer to only use it to half its capacity before recharging it so you are not expected to use about 1200 watts. If you have a tv and decoder for instance that needs 400 watts of power per hr, then a fully charged 12V 1200Ah battery can power it up for 3hrs safely. If you need to power it up for up to 9 hrs, then you may need to use up to 3 of such batteries utilizing only 50% of its capacity.

You can choose to power a few devices in your home or office with solar power or power up your whole place but doing the latter would require more investment in the range of N2 million or a bit less.

Imagine being able to use your fan, switch on the light, recharge your phone and watch tv anytime you want just because you have solar power. In Nigeria, individuals mostly generate their own electricity but not in a clean way. Solar power is a much cleaner way to generate your own electricity.

Whatever your investment in solar power, it pays off in the long term and it will help you become less dependent on electric generators or the inefficient power company as fuel price and electricity bills keep rising.