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The Federal Government has decried the persistent influx of inferior and used solar equipment into the country. It also warned that the trend is a major threat to safety, investment, and the long-term sustainability of renewable energy projects across the country. To curb the menace, the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) has commissioned its first Mini-Grid Testing and Simulation Centre in Abuja, to certify solar energy components and equipment before deployment.
Speaking during the commissioning, REA Managing Director, Abba Abubakar Aliyu, said the centre would play a crucial role in ensuring that only products that meet the agency’s standards are approved for use in the country. He linked the establishment of the facility to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed when President Bola Tinubu visited China in 2024. According to him, the facility will help address the proliferation of substandard solar panels, batteries, and inverters that have flooded the Nigerian market and often fail prematurely, causing various degrees of harm to the people.
The centre will test the effectiveness of solar photovoltaic panels and batteries, and simulate how mini-grids perform under different real-world conditions before deployment. REA officials explained that the laboratory can simulate environmental conditions, allowing engineers to evaluate equipment performance without physically visiting them.
The importation of fake solar panels and other related products into the country by unscrupulous Nigerians and foreigners is condemnable. As the government has pointed out, it undermines investment potential in addition to posing serious health hazards for the people. It is intriguing to imagine how these fake solar panels and other related products enter into the country under the watchful eyes of immigration and custom officials.
The importers of these fake products are shortchanging millions of Nigerians who patronize them. These Nigerians are using solar panels and inverters in response to the country’s unstable and expensive electricity supply. The high demand for these products should never be a reason for the importers to exploit them, and thereby endangering lives in the process. Although the REA has responded to the situation, the Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) has a huge role to play in the matter. SON should rise to the occasion and checkmate the ugly trend. They should come up with a workable mechanism to test all products before they are imported in the country and if possible have pre-shipment and post-shipment testing of these products before they are allowed into the country.
It is the responsibility of SON to standardize products manufactured in Nigeria or imported into the country for Nigerian market. Most solar panels, inverter batteries, and related products are combustible and harmful to the consumers. Nigerians must be saved the risk of using solar panels and inverter batteries in their homes and offices. Solar panels are good and useful as supplement for electricity supply but the government should ensure that some unscrupulous Nigerians and their foreign collaborators do not shortchange innocent Nigerians.
The quality of these solar products must not be compromised. Those behind the importation of these substandard products should be made to face the full wrath of the law. Bringing them to justice will deter others from engaging in the evil trade. Government officials involved in the shady deals must face the consequences. Let the government be proactive in tackling the challenge. Being always reactive will not curb the menace. We must not wait until people die or there are casualties arising from the use of these inferior, substandard products in the country. There should be vigilance by all parties concerned to maintain safety.
In many countries across Africa, millions of people use solar panels and inverter batteries as an alternative to electricity supply. These countries control the importation of solar panels to ensure that only standard, genuine categories enter their markets. Nigeria should not be an exception. Also, the SON should routinely check the markers where solar panels and inverter batteries are sold to ensure that only genuine solar products are sold. If the importers of fake solar products are duly prosecuted and punished, others will desist from importing them. The importers of solar products should be enlightened on the dangers of importing substandard ones. The federal government can also reach out to the countries where these fake products are imported from to assist in eradicating the menace forthwith.
