Could Solar power save Nigeria?

Posted by Felix Okoli on Friday April 25, 2014 at 16:57:1:

According to a report I read on the papers sometime ago(2013) referring to statement made by the Minister of Power Professor Chinebu Nebo, Nigeria needs about 200,000 Megawatts of power in order to meet her current needs.

Currently, the Power Minister is said to be targeting a more realistic level of at least 10,000 Megawatts by December 2014 even though Nigeria's current electricity generation is still under 5000 MW as at this month. I wonder how they will ever make that target of just 10,000 MW even though that is still a far cry from the 200,000 MW needed just to supply power to every home in Nigeria. In reality, it may take about 20 more years just to supply everybody with electricity 24 hrs a day and 7 days a week. I think it's time Nigerians start to look for alternative forms of generating power rather than just relying on the Power company or generators which will only keep being unreliable and financially crushing.

I also read in another report recently on how the USA is diversifying its power generation from nuclear energy to Solar energy and were already generating. To countries like the USA, they are not just diversifying into Solar energy in order to generate more power but simply because nuclear energy was no longer economically viable plus green and for many companies, there is now less economic justification in investing into more nuclear plants when Solar plants and Wind energy have become much cheaper and yet more climate friendly. According to a recent report I read on CNN, there are already signs of success in the state of California as they've been able to install up to 4 GW of solar power from a 2013 photovoltaic installation. Now, that 4GW would be able to power up to 1.6 million homes give that each home requires at least 30kwh of electricity per day.

Nuclear energy was able to supply developed countries like the USA with sufficient amount of energy and in a much efficient way but lately they are already diversifying to Solar and this goes to show that even though Nigeria still lags behind by relying on just hydropower electricity generation, she doesn't have to go nuclear when it can now go solar and even moreso in a climate that has sunlight much more than the USA.

Solar power installations might very well be that saving grace Nigeria needs now when global companies are growing green and it would only get more expensive to keep financing older methods of generating electricity.

As we look into the future, we'd see that the world is turning to solar partly because of the consensus to reduce global warming and dependence on fossil fuels or older methods of generating power.

Nigeria needs to start investing in Solar energy both for home and office use. Nigerians too need to start investing in buying Solar products that can power most of their daily needs.

When people want to use power to do little things like watching tv, running an electric fan or even recharging mobile phones and laptops, it's no longer smart to stay plugged into the grid when you can save a lot of power by tapping that energy from the sun thanks to Solar panels.

There are now many Solar products which Nigerians and Nigeria can invest in just to generate more power. I've seen that some state govts too have invested in Solar streetlights which make use of 2 12V dry batteries. Those can work for 24hrs during the day and night but they only need to be maintained in order to last longer.

There are already a growing number of homes in the USA which no longer pay electric bills since they now fully rely on the Solar power they generate from their solar panel rooftops. Some even supply back excess power to the power companies and get paid for it.

I think the main problem with the slow adoption of Solar power in Nigeria is due to insufficient knowledge or awareness. Most people just don't know how Solar energy works and are afraid of buying into it.

Imagine how Nigeria would be like if people no longer put on their generators at night but rather just switch on energy efficient bulbs that would be powered by electricity generated and saved during sunlight thanks to solar panels. Besides the mental stress and poisonous gases which generators create, it can also reduce one's hearing ability in the long term.

Believe me, I'm tired of those tiny generators from my neighbours that make noise every night while I'm trying to sleep. Solar energy is more human friendly than generators because they are silent and they also prevent pollution.