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Maduka Nweke, [email protected]
With Nigeria driving to become one of the 20 economic hubs in the world, the importance of electricity to supply power to manufacturing companies cannot be neglected. Power has remained one of the determinants of living standards.
Solar panels seem to be the latest craze for the environmentally and financially conscious homeowners. But how do solar panels affect the value of your property? A typical Nigerian landlord would ask. What do you tell a prospective buyer about values? By examining several issues related to the sale of a home with installed solar panels, your guess will be as good as mine, the import of panels in selling your property. Taking a cursory look at the attorneys of Blair Cato who spoke with a leading real estate appraiser in South Carolina concerning how appraisals are conducted on homes with solar panels, one will be convinced the solar panels help to increase your property values. The issue simply hasn’t been popular enough for there to be a consensus on how to value the addition of the panels in property. Whether the solar panels are leased and owned also may affect the appraisal. Many appraisers are taking the position that there is no added value and perhaps some diminished value with leased solar panels because the buyer must assume the lease. This additional financial commitment makes it harder to market and sell the property. Moreover, the cost of the lease will negate some of the utility cost savings. Therefore, leased solar panels are likely to be value neutral on the appraisal.
Power generation in Nigeria has been given to the country by providence on a platter of gold but whether we call it laziness or poor faculties, the nation has not been able to harness the potential to her benefit. The result being that a lot of companies that manufacture those goods imported abroad have been forced to relocate to nearby countries and closing the door for new ones to rise. Most real estate practitioners see this poor electricity supply as the bane behind poor finishing of some of their property. This has made some social and business thinkers to go extra mile to look for self help to solve their power problems. In majority of cities in Nigeria today, the use of solar panels has become very popular that whether there is light or not some people don’t bother. Although, they use it in the homes, it has not been used massively to power manufacturing companies.
For instance, if you are a real estate developer and you are interested in a solar energy system, the time to act is now while solar rebates, tax credits, and incentives are at an all-time high. At the same time, a solar energy system can prepare your organization for the unique challenges of tomorrow while saving you money today. If you are interested in some of the other key benefits that are convincing more real estate developers to make the switch, then see under. The world is not on track to meet the 2030 global energy targets, set as part of the Sustainable Development Goals, but real progress is being made in certain areas – particularly expansion of access to electricity in developing countries, especially Nigeria and ensuring renewable energy penetration. The adoption of renewable energy is gaining traction in the electricity sector, although this is not being matched in transportation and heating – which together account for 80 per cent of global energy consumption. While global trends are disappointing, recent experiences in Nigeria offer encouraging signs. There is mounting evidence that with the right approaches and policies, the country can make substantial progress in clean energy and energy access, and improve the lives of millions of its people. This, if carefully harnessed, could be of economic importance not only to the developer, homeowners but also in increasing the country’s GDP. Property with panels could:
Attract new clientele
The market is ripe for tenants and residents looking to take advantage of renewable energy sources. When your development can boost solar energy infrastructure, you can appeal to an untapped demographic of clients who are willing to pay more for clean energy. At the same time, you can protect tenants and residents by hedging against volatile energy markets. Real estate developers are using solar energy systems to retain tenants, raise rents, and even cut costs for businesses and homeowners. Either way, incorporating solar energy into your infrastructure is a key asset you can add to the list of amenities that attract, and retain tenants.
Financial incentives tax rebates
As the government works to support the budding solar industry, tax credits and other incentive programs offer numerous ways to finance your clean energy initiatives. However, these programs may not last much longer, so now is the time to act if you want to maximize the return on your solar investment. In some cases, you may even be able to leverage your financial incentives to generate positive cash flow.
Minimal opportunity costs for solar land development
One of the most substantial benefits of adopting solar is the opportunity costs for real estate developers are minimal. That’s because solar installations are usually deployed on unused vacant land or in unoccupied areas such as rooftops. Since you can use a solar system to maximize your unused space, you really don’t have much to lose and a lot to gain. Chances are, you already have areas you could use to capitalize on solar power without costing your organization anything.
Return on Investment
Unlike a traditional energy system, solar energy systems are designed to deliver a full return on your investment. If you choose a conventional energy system, that’s considered the cost of doing business, and you wouldn’t expect to see a direct return on the expenditure. With a solar energy solution, on the other hand, you can expect your investment to pay for itself and potentially make you money in the long run. If you have the capital to invest in solar energy today, you’ll be glad you did when tomorrow comes.
Ready to switch?
If you are a real estate developer who’s interested in experiencing the benefits of solar energy, contact the experts at Verogy today. We have already helped real estate companies across Connecticut maximize the value of their developments simply by integrating clean energy into their electrical grids, and we’re ready to help you next.
In fact, Nigeria ratified the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda I 2015 and signed the Paris agreement on climate change in 2017, which commits the country to a reduction in greenhouse gas emission, ranging from 20 per cent to 45 per cent by 2030. As part of ways to implement the National Determined Contributions (NDCs) mitigation targets, the Federal Government is implementing an ambitious power sector reform totally with its commitment to provide by 2030 affordable and reliable energy and increase share of the renewable energy to 30 per cent as well as upscale the generation capacity to 30GW. Nigeria’s electricity grid faces many challenges, including the insufficient grid-connection capacity to meet demand, inadequate infrastructure to make the country’s abundant gas available for power generation and an inefficient transmission and distribution system with limited coverage. Consequently, 50 per cent of the electrical energy consumed in the country is produced off-grid by diesel and gasoline generators of all shapes and sizes and there is unmet demand amongst the rural populace.
These energy gaps can be reduced with renewable energy resources potential such as solar, wind, biomass and hydropower energy.
After dramatic decreases in the cost of panels, solar photovoltaic (PV) systems generate electricity at costs below utility costs in many parts of the United States. The cost of solar modules has dropped from $100 per watt down to $1 per watt, and this development has changed everything. By 2020, energy analysts expect that solar-generated electricity will be priced at or below the cost of utility-supplied power in over half of the U.S. Many organizations have committed to the idea of sourcing all their power from renewables. Some, including Intel, Kohl’s, Apple, the National Hockey League and Starbucks, purchase enough clean energy to offset or run all of their operations. Real estate developers who sell or lease their spaces, however, have been slower to incorporate rooftop solar in the projects. Because their tenants usually pay the electric bills, there hasn’t been much of an incentive. But that scenario is changing. The difference being that some entrepreneurial developers see PV installations as a way to meet green criteria for their buildings and to reduce vacancy rates or increase leasing rates. Most importantly, many willing to make this investment have found ways to recover the installation and management costs — they’ve discovered ways to profit from PV.
