Why Nigerians need Solar panels more than Americans

KoliTech

Posted by Felix Okoli on Monday December 8, 2014 at 15:4:5:

Solar panels are cool devices that convert the natural power of the sun into electricity and I have to say that more and more people in our world of today really need it since it has made modern life more meaningful to them.

Electricity has become a necessity in our modern world since most household and office devices require it to work and this helps make life easier for people. To watch TV, blend vegetables and fruits, iron your clothes and light up a room, you will need to have electricity. Electricity is a need which has been created by our modern world because we created machines that require electricity to operate.

Most of the electronic equipment that are made in our world today are being manufactured in industrialized countries like the USA, UK, China, Japan and others with most of them being exported to nations in Africa such as Nigeria. Nigerians have grown fond of imported electronic products and so they also have a growing need for electricity which the local power companies are finding hard to supply.

Imagine having a country of over 200 million people with more than half living in cities but yet not having an efficient power supply system. The bulk of Nigeria's power sector relies of hydro-electric power generators and those make use of dams and rotating turbines to generate electricity using electromagnetic induction.

As at the time of writing this, Nigeria's power needs according to the power minister Professor Nebo was about 200,000 Mega Watts but was still generating much less than 5000 MW at the moment event though they had initially hoped to improve it to at least 10,000MW as at Q1 2014.

I have to say that even at 10,000 MW or 100,000MW, it is still too low compared to what Nigerian households need to carry on their lives and businesses more meaningfully and that's why the bulk of the income of ordinary Nigerians are spent of purchasing and maintaining power generators and they have become the only reliable source of power for their homes. Power Generators make life more easier for ordinary Nigerians and people are practically forced to have one since they tend to supply more power to them than the Power company does.

Electric Power generators are cool and they allow Nigerians to generate electricity independently and without having to rely on the power company or pay any monthly bills but it's not the only way to generate power independently. Solar panels are the new type of devices that can be used to generate power and they are like power generators which convert light energy into electricity.

There are lots of solar panels being manufactured in the USA but many Americans are not buying and installing them to their homes just because they lack power but in order to reduce their electric bills. They are not buying them mostly because thy lack electricity but because they just want an alternative means of energy and perhaps because it's also a cleaner form of energy.

To Nigerians however, they need solar panels as a more reliable source of power since power companies have failed from time to time and solar panels might even supply more energy for their homes than the power companies can ever supply.

Unfortunately, however, Solar panels are not produced in Nigeria and even though they are gradually being imported by solar marketing companies, not many Nigerians know how they work or understand that it can even replace their need for noisy, smoking and gas guzzling power generators.

Nigeria is located in a tropical climate in Western African and they do have sunlight probably more than many states in the USA most of the year round but the funny thing is one would hardly see solar panels installed on rooftops but rather one might see cable TV dishes.

Despite the abundant sunlight that can go for 6 hrs straight during the day, many Nigerians still go to bed too early because they can't see at night as a result of darkness and inability to watch TV. As a result of not knowing what Solar panels can do for them, they find it hard to charge their mobile phones and portable battery powered devices because they mostly rely on unreliable power companies. I guess that if they knew what Solar panels could do for them, they are more likely to ditch their subscription and electricity meters for solar powered systems which they can independently operate.

With solar panels installed for Nigerian businesses, they would find it easier to run their small businesses and generate more profit without the need for diesel powered generators.

Most Nigerians don't know that they can install solar panels in their homes even if they didn't have the technical know-how and this is because they are a growing number of solar companies in the country who can do that for them.

There are a growing number of solar companies in Nigeria and they can help teach potential Nigerian customers what it's going to take to run a solar powered system at their homes or offices. You don't have to be a genius to have solar panels generate electricity for you.

Some Nigerians who know about solar panels are a bit reluctant to purchase them because of the price tag or cost associated with using them. However the truth is that solar panels need little or no maintenance when installed and they don't contribute to noise pollution like generators. I would wish that the government or private companies set up solar panel manufacturing plants in the country and market their products to Nigerians so that they can have easy access to these devices without having to pay too much for it. As a result of the fact that solar panels are imported, the end price which a Nigerian buyer has to pay is normally much higher than it's original price at US stores that sell them.

Most Nigerians don't like buying things they have little or no knowledge about but word of mouth can spread fast and help encourage them to buy it if only they get a bit on enlightenment from others who are already using them.

Life could be made more meaningful to many Nigerians if they were empowered with solar panels and products that work even when the power company has gone offline.

Comments:

Re: Why Nigerians need Solar panels more than Americans Reply by Bolaji on Thursday January 29, 2015 at 23:8:9:

You have made a good analysis of the situation.
You hit the nail on the head. its about time things start to change in Nigeria and we are the starting point, by demanding it.

Re: Why Nigerians need Solar panels more than Americans Reply by kenneth on Saturday March 21, 2015 at 6:14:45:

Quite a good analysis of the problem you have made here my brother. Its been indeed very pathetic and frustrating coping with light issue in Nigeria which has been a part of the crisis for years. change is duly needed

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