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Chukwudi Nweje
Olufemi Adebowale Vicmo is a Finland-based computer engineer. He specialises in information technology and energy. In this interview, he speaks on why Nigeria should embrace to solar energy.
Campaign
Since 2015, I have been researching on Nigeria and I realised that electricity is the biggest problem we have as a country. Many manufacturing outfits have either relocated or closed shop because of the poor electricity, students also cannot study because of the electricity situation and the economy is generally worse because of the electricity situation. I have come to realise that we as citizens of Nigeria must rise up and solve this problem because the Federal Government cannot solve it alone. We have the sun in abundance in Nigeria, the reason why Nigerians are not tapping into solar energy is because they lack the scientific knowledge of the benefits of solar energy and that knowledge is what I want to impact. That was what led me to launch my campaign.
Solar-powered streetlights
I discovered that most of the solar energy installations in Nigeria were done wrongly. The reason why these streetlights are failing is because they are below building level. If you want to get these street lights working, the panel should be removed from on top of the streetlight poles and mounted where they have access to sunlight. The solar panel should be directly exposed to the sun for at least eight hours. If you put the panel under the house, the implication is that during the 8 O’clock to 12 O’clock span, when the sun comes up, the battery will not charge until the sun goes overhead. Also, before you install solar panels in any house, you have you check the roof. The roof of the building has to be photophilic, that means, the roof has to face the direction of the sun. If the roof does not face the sun, the solar installation will definitely fail because you will not get enough energy to power the house. Secondly, you have to calculate the anticipated consumption, how many lighting points you have in your house, the voltage and how long you will use it. If you get your calculation correct, the system will last 40 years without problems. They use solar in space, built by the Russians. It is the solar system there that they use to recycle and reuse waste excreted by the people there. If they can use solar there in space, why can’t we use it here in Nigeria? If we do things right in Nigeria, the country will be better off. We spend so much on powering those big generators and solar power will put an end to it.
Components needed to set up a solar power unit
You need the solar panel, battery, charger controller and the inverter. The other things are just the cables. The battery is to store the power for the evening or when there is no electricity or sunlight. The inverter is to convert the solar energy, which is 12 volts, just like the generator, they have inverters in the generator. The inverter converts the 12 volts to the 230 volts used in the house. The charger controller charges the battery. It gets the energy from the solar panel and gives it to the inverter. The energy that the inverter doesn’t use is sent to the battery for storage to be used when there is no sunlight. The solar panel gets the energy from the sun, sends it to the charger controller, which sends it to the inverter to convert it for use in the house.
Cost
The only problem with solar energy is the first-time installation because you have to gather the money at once. An installation to produce one kilowatt of solar energy will cost about N800,000. But after that you will not spend any more money. You will not buy diesel, you will not pay electricity bills. Solar is meant to last for up to 40 years. Calculate how much you pay to buy a generator, diesel, petrol and on maintaining the generator and servicing your electricity bill for two years. If you put all these together, it is more than enough to set up a solar power unit for your house. You will even have the added benefit of constant power supply because you can’t have 24 hours electricity supply from the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). You can’t also run your generator for 24 hours. So, if you check all these, you will see that solar is cheaper and more convenient and it will last 40 years.
Duration
Any manufacturer will give you one-year guarantee or maybe two years extension guarantee. But what he is saying is that the product can work for up to 40 years. When you purchase your mobile phone for example, they give you one-year guarantee but the phone can work for 10 years or more, depending on how you handle it. I can tell you that, if you handle the system carefully, it will last 40 years.
Why many solar energy installations fail in less than five years
It is the people doing the installations and the importers that are killing Nigerians. My research showed that the average lifespan of battery in Nigeria is three years. One of the greatest problems we have in Nigeria is that the batteries they sell in the country are pre-charged. The lifespan of a battery starts to count down the day you put power in it. So, if a distributor in Nigeria has, let’s say 100 of these pre-charged batteries, and sells only say 10 of them in one year, it means that one year of the lifespan of the remaining 90 is already lost. After two years if he doesn’t sell them, two years of the lifespan are lost and so on. If he finally sells it after say five years, the lifespan of the batteries is already five years shorter and the buyer who does not know this will say that solar energy is not good.
Also, in Nigeria, many of the solar projects are connected wrongly. They connect the solar (panel) to the charging system to charge the battery and from the battery connect the inverter to the house. This means you are getting power from the battery every time and it will kill the battery. The battery should be resting during the day when there is sunlight; it should just receive food and charge. The battery should not be working with the house system. It is just like a man working all the time, he will collapse. A man should rest in the night and work in the day, that way he will live longer.
The battery should store power for the evening or when there is no electricity or sunlight. The inverter is to convert the solar energy, which is 12 volts just like the generator, to the 230 volts used in the house. The charger controller charges the battery. It gets the energy from the solar panel and gives it to the inverter. The energy that the inverter doesn’t use is sent to the battery for storage to be used when there is no sunlight. The solar panel gets the energy directly from the sun, sends it to the charger controller, which sends it to the inverter to convert it for use in the house.
How to get the best out of solar power installations
You have to know the output of your house before you design your solar power. Installing solar panels without knowing your output is mere forecasting and the system will fail. When you know your output, you have to simulate it with a computer or calculate it with a weather conditions. Installation of solar panels has to be mathematically arrived at. It requires calculations you don’t just nail it and connect the wires.
Again, it needs to be adequately maintained and the maintenance is very simple. All you need is to go to the roof and spray the panel with water to wash off the dirt, nothing else. The maintenance should be about three times a year depending on where you reside. If you live by a major road where there is a lot of dust, it should be three times a year. If you live in an area where there is less dust, it can be twice a year.
I would also appeal to the Federal Government to avoid these people that claim they are doing everything. You cannot be a manufacturer of the panel, battery, inverter and charger all at the same time. That only shows you are not an expert, that you are only looking for money. I buy my panel and battery from different specialists and I get my inverter and charger from different manufacturers.
What Nigeria will gain by switching to solar
We will gain a lot. For one, it will improve the economy because, presently, we spend a lot of money on generators. If we switch to solar, these monies will be used on other development projects. If the majority of Nigerians switch to solar, then the national electricity (grid)will be channelled to other areas and they will have adequate and regular power supply. If we don’t cut ourselves out of the national electricity, I can bet you there won’t be any development in Nigeria.
It is surprising that at this time people still have business with PHCN. If we don’t change this attitude, our children will die without electricity. The government doesn’t even know how much power we consume. We need to change our attitude before we can solve the problem. Government must also bring the manufacturers of solar energy components to our soil. Unless this is done the cost of solar energy will keep rising because of selfish distributors who only care about their family.
