Solar power is becoming increasingly popular in Nigeria as an affordable, sustainable, and reliable option for powering homes and offices. Solar panels have proven potential to address Nigeria’s power challenge. Solar-based generating units can be built up far quicker than traditional power plants and it has proven capability to plug the gaps in Nigeria’s energy requirements, the CEO of Diadem Global, a power-solution technology startup, Oyeniyi Uthman, said. More efficient passive and full usage of solar technologies is in the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. African leaders are demonstrating a commitment to bringing solar power to rural homes. For example, a UNDP-GEF report on solar financing and delivery models notes that private sales, through dealers, initially dominated the market in South Africa, but that the government, a leading NEPAD proponent, later initiated a massive off-grid effort that is now fully active. Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia, and most countries in the region have developed solar markets, in many cases with special funds to support consumer credit. This means a transition to solar-based energy could help diversify Nigeria’s energy portfolio and reduce high electricity bills, as was the case for Mrs. Jaji. Such transition could also stop the reliance on fossil fuels which come with attendant challenges like pollution through flaring and spillage. Clean energy facilities should be embraced in the different sectors of the Nigerian economy. Several companies are developing solar power systems for homes and businesses in Nigeria, and there are already a number of successful installations. Lumos is one of the country's leading solar firms that sell self-contained solar facilities to residential units, thus providing relative access to clean energy. Other distributed renewable energy firms in Nigeria include Arnergy, Astrum energy, and many others. As of April 2021, the Nigerian government has commenced the implementation of this project with the Jangefe community of Roni Local Government Area in Jigawa State where it received 1,000 solar home system connections for its population of about 5,000. Thereafter, the project will continue across other states of the federation.

Solar: Nigeria is estimated to have about 427 GW of solar power potential, although current generation capacity is estimated at 5GW. In 2016, the country signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) worth $2.5 billion with 14 independent power producers for solar power plants across the country, expected to add about 1.1 GW of power to the grid. However, these projects are stalled due to several issues, including tariff structures and concerns about the capacity of the current transmission infrastructure to accommodate the additional power generation. Industry experts believe that the best potential lies in the smaller micro-grid projects which are best suited for the northern parts of Nigeria. There is a growing uptake of off-grid solar power installations to replace more expensive diesel generators across the country, both for commercial and industrial applications. Over 50 MW of solar capacity has been installed over the last five years. The Rural Electrification Agency, with $550 million funding support from the World Bank and the African Development Bank, is helping to expand energy access through the Solar Power Naija initiative. This initiative aims to provide 5 million new connections to 25 million individuals in off-grid communities. Power Africa has been instrumental in helping suppliers of solar home systems better understand and enter the Nigerian market. In 2020, as part of the economic recovery process from the covid-19 pandemic, the Nigerian government launched the Solar Power Naija Project,5 which seeks the roll-out of 5 million solar-based connections to communities that are off-grid. The project targets 25 million homes and is expected to create approximately 250,000 jobs. The estimated cost of the project has been pegged at US$620 million, although there are plans to recoup the expenditure.

The benefits of solar power systems for homes and offices in Nigeria include lower energy costs, reduced reliance on fossil fuels, and lower carbon emissions.

Nigeria's climate, resources, and economic and societal conditions made solar energy a suitable alternative energy source. The Northern part of Nigeria has the highest potential for solar. The North has average solar insolation of 2200 kWh/m^2, while the southern part has 1800 kWh/m^2. In addition to adequate power outputs, solar energy would aid the country in reducing carbon emissions from fossil-fueled energy generation. Furthermore, solar power would provide a reliable and stable source of energy in both urban and other locations and could alleviate the resources-conflict associated with oil. In December 2020, the Federal Government of Nigeria partnered with an indigenous solar company, Arnergy, which at that time had brought in foreign investments worth over $9 million to boost solar electrification in Nigeria. Due to its geographic location near the equator, Nigeria has the potential to generate most of its energy through solar. Most of the big cities in Nigeria (Lagos, Abuja, Benin City, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, and Kano) now power their street lighting with solar energy through state beautification projects. Low Energy Designs, a firm from the United Kingdom, was contracted to build solar-powered street lights across Nigeria. This twelve-month project is expected to cover about 300 km and cost about 7 million U.S. dollars. In addition, the World Bank has lent Nigeria about 350 million to build a solar power grid by 2023 that will help generate power for hospitals, rural areas, schools, and households. More efficient passive and full usage of solar technologies in the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. First, Nigeria has not enjoyed the cost reductions in solar and wind power seen elsewhere globally as no grid-scale projects have been completed and investment has not been de-risked58—solar PV ($2180–2580 per kW) and wind ($1860–3900 per kW) CAPEX are still more expensive than a natural gas-fired generation ($400–700 per kW) (see ESI†). Additionally, IRES has much lower availabilities than fossil generators and often require energy storage to compensate for the variability in their supply. Consequently, when build rates are not limited, it proves cheaper to deliver dispatchable electricity using gas-fired power plants instead of IRES.

Conclusion

Solar electricity has been broadly generic because of the cleanest, maximum low priced, and maximum sustainable shape of strength technology. Solar electricity may be used to provide power in any place in which there's sunlight. It is a renewable strength supply that doesn't launch greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Nigeria receives a negligible quantity of sunlight (approximately 2 hours a day) all through the months of May to August. This is the time whilst the solar is at its hottest. A lot of human beings in Nigeria decide to apply steeply-priced gas oil or kerosene to run turbines to electricity their houses or workplaces all through this time. It is all through those months that maximum human beings in Nigeria are domestic; caught indoors, and frequently uncovered to the solar, making the solar's rays even greater harm. Solar electricity ought to offer a low-priced and easy opportunity for the usage of gas oil or kerosene all through those months. There are many blessings to the use of solar electricity for houses and workplaces in Nigeria.