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Solar Energy News

Solar Generators:- What are they?

A few weeks ago I read that Nigeria had more than 60 million generators. Considering that the average Nigerian experiences less that 3 hours of electricity, you can begin to imagine the noise. I was in Lagos in September and October and I can tell you that it took me over 3 days to sleep through the night. The noise was over whelming.

I am sure you can begin to imagine the pollution from these noise makers. At night the smells from the improperly tuned engines assaults the eyes and the nose. You begin to understand the reason people have perpetual colds. The cost in fuel and repairs are never considered by the average Nigerian. What he looks at is his upfront cost. For N35000 they can purchase a generator. What nobody tells them is that those cheap generators are deadly for laptops, TV and sensitive electronic devices. The power supply for my laptop caught fire while using one of these cheap generators. The other one destroyed my fathers phones and would not charge my Kindle.

How do we resolve this challenge using a renewable resource? The ideal would be for many of these homes to have a permanent and complete Solar installation. The challenge is that most people are very reluctant to cough up the upfront cash. In America we have finance and tax mechanisms that makes Solar affordable. With net metering you get a reduction in your electric bills. In Nigeria there is no such mechanism.

So our solution is a hybrid. A solar generator. It offers portability, lower upfront cost and very minimal cost to run.

What is a Solar Generator?

A solar generator is a box that you can plug into an outlet to provide power to your home. In place of a gasoline or diesel motor, it uses solar panels to generate the power that you use. You purchase a generator, hang the panels outside and you are ready to go. Think about a solar generator as a shrunken version of a complete solar installation.

solar generator 600 w back

We carry solar generators. Like gasoline generators they come in different capacities. They are pure sine wave generators that work well with sensitive electronics. Reach out to us for yours..

Categories
Solar Energy News

60 Million Nigerian’s own Power Generators – MAN

An estimated 60 million Nigerians now own power generating sets for their electricity, while the same number of people spend a staggering N1.56 trillion ($13.35m ) to fuel them annually.

Chairman of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Imo, Abia Branch, Dr. Frank S.U. Jacobs, made this disclosure, in a chat with Vanguard on the effects of poor public power supply on the industrial growth of the two states (Imo and Abia).

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Solar Energy News

An illustration showing you what a Micro Hydro Solution looks like

microhydroillustration

Categories
Municipal Solid Waste

The Blue Fire of Oblogo

This is potentially a deadly situation. I am not sure the reporter recognizes the danger.

Categories
Solar Energy News

Rates for Kaduna and Enugu DISCO’s

Here is what the cost to get Electricity in Kaduna and Enugu (which includes most of the Ibo States) are.

ENUGU+DISCO+-+Fixed+Charge+&+Energy+Charge

KADUNA+DISCO+-+Fixed+Charge+&+Energy+Charge

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Uncategorized

A Video chronicling our trip to Nigeria

 

Categories
Municipal Solid Waste

A short Video from our Visit.

Categories
Municipal Solid Waste

More from our Trip to Nigeria

Here is a Collage of Videos from our Trip

Categories
Municipal Solid Waste

Our Visit to Nigeria

There is a high level of excitement in the waste management arena in Nigeria today. Most people see it as an opportunity to make quick money, but the astute business person sees it as a long term opportunity that pays over a life time. One of the companies we met with had a business plan that was similar to ours, the challenge they had was how to guarantee collection. Another had agreements but faced challenges securing financing. They had been at it for 5 years, secured agreements, land and now just at the final step is having a difficult time raising money to start the project. The banks seem to lack the long term outlook and they charge 25% interest on projects that can’t support a 10% interest rate.

The people who came before us sold waste management as waste to wealth. We need to change the way people think about the business before we can change the minds of the population that we intend to serve.

On a very positive note with met with Konsadem Associates in Ibadan. We were hosted by the MD Engineer Bola Olowe in Ibadan. He is the 2nd MD in the company’s history. We met the founder of the firm, who at 83 still come to the office daily. Can you believe that he has been coming to work every day since 1974?

We took a trip to Kaduna and visited the KEPA offices and the Landfill on Kaduna Zaria road. We saw a lot of activity at the site. What we observed seems consistent with dumping practices in Nigeria. No plan, no sorting, scavenging and no record keeping. The employees have very little resources to do the job. We did not observe any type of equipment at the site. The dump trucks dumped where they could find space. The waste composition is largely organic material that can serve as fuel.

We will post more updates of our September 18 to October 4 trip.

AWPS President  with Konsadem MD Image from Landfill Kaduna Landfill Buwaya Buwaya Landfill

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Uncategorized

Corporate Nigeria Stakeholders’ & Investors Forum

Yesterday we attended this forum at the United Nations put together by Heartlink Group and sponsored by the Delta State Government. We extend our gratitude to Commissioner’s Dr. Kingsley Emu and Chike C Ogeah Esq. Special thanks go out to their boss His Excellency Dr. Uduaghan who wrote the check.They showed that the state is indeed business friendly.