Category: Solar Energy News

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We want to thank everyone that has supported us so far in our quest to bring clean, reliable and inexpensive solar solutions to our brothers and sisters in Sub-Saharan Africa. The burden of self generation is one that does not allow for development that will lift our brothers and sisters out of poverty. We hope we can help in our own little way.
We will be completing our test runs and installations next month. We have realized that the cost of doing business in Sub Saharan Africa is higher that we initially calculated. Finding competent help, customs, transportation and basic tools cost much more than it does in the west.
Our current price point is over 30% below the inverter market. We have gone and priced our offering in Nigeria and we are by far very cost competitive. We want to continue to offer a superior product and at the same time we want to have a business model that is sustainable.
We have hired expertise from outside of the countries we do business in. We had to do this because we have had a challenge finding qualified people. We plan on setting up training facilities and partnering with a school to train the next generation of installers and solar experts. Our goal is to start the training in Abia State by September 2014.

We have updated and improved the experience on our web page. People that use mobile devices will experience faster load times. It has been cleaned up to provide a more uniform look and all the popular social media buttons has been added for your convenience.

In our quest to further improve the customer experience and touch, we have added a land line number in Nigeria. Our customers in Nigeria can dial 01 404 1003 my extension is 121. From May 1 you will be given an option that lets you speak to an employee in our Lagos office. As we add more staff we will give you access to them.

We are testing some additional products that will compliment our current offerings. Solar Hot water heaters (I like hot showers) and solar well pumps. Once we have completed our testing we will add them to our catalogue and announce them.

Effective May 1, 2014 we will increase the prices of our popular Solar power offerings. Even with the increase we still offer a product that is a superior value to what is found in the market today.

Thank you for your support and we will continue to provide you with a superior product and top notch customer service.

This has been a recurring question that I get each time I talk about our Solar Power Solutions. I will attempt to answer it again.
No Changes In How You Use Electricity
Solar electricity works exactly the same as the electricity you buy from the utility company. You turn on lights, plug in lamps and power appliances the same way you do right now. In fact, if you didn’t see solar modules on the roof, you’d never notice any difference

The weather here has me thinking about Nigeria or some place that is very warm. We are waist deep in snow.

Before we share the maps with you, we will share a success story with you. Here is a home in Port Hacourt that has used Solar Power for the last three years. He has no major issues, but the system does not do what it was originally designed to do. He has 1600 Watts in panels a humongous battery bank and a 5 KVA Inverter and 12/24 Controller. He never lets his batteries discharge below 80%, but his panels are not putting back enough juice into his batteries. He uses it to power his lights, TV and Fans. He will like to power his AC. Which is the reason behind the huge battery bank.
We are currently looking over his system and we see a couple of areas that when corrected will improve the performance and allow him to us his AC for a few hours a day.

Here is a picture of the panels on the roof.

His system is sort of a hybrid. It is what in Nigeria is referred to as an inverter with a charge controller and panels added. If it had been done correctly it would have yielded him the desired result. He spent N1.2 million on the batteries, N750,000 on the Panels and N350,000 on the Inverter. Do the math that is over N2.2 million. He has saved more than that in fuel already. I did not ask him what it cost for the installation. He has not used a generator in over 3 years.

We were looking at PV Charts and people living in Nigeria have it very good. If you live in Northern Nigeria, your panels are producing at full power for close to 7 hours on average. So there are days it does more. That is just sick. People in the US will salivate to get such through put. In the South and Eastern part it is 2 hours less. Those number are still quite impressive. You can go and look for yourself.
http://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvgis/apps4/pvest.php?map=africa&lang=en
Nigeria should be blanketed in solar panels. All that free energy going to waste.

I hope you enjoyed our most recent posting. Email us with question or visit our catalogue on our page.

This picture is a reflection of what is happening the world over. Lets join hands and keep the boat afloat.

We refrain from getting involved in the politics of any country for a variety of reasons. We are not a political party, we are citizens like everyone else and we lack the expertise to prognosticate. A reader on our Facebook page wanted Solar Power options at N250,000 and wanted the government to step in and make it affordable for the masses. Nigerians have convinced themselves that every problem can and must be solved by the government. We interviewed some children a year ago and asked them to identify a problem within their community and solve it using Science Technology, Engineering and Math. They all knew the problem and they all believed that the government was to solve it. They lacked the ability to solve it.

Nigeria has spent over $50 billion dollars since the days of President Obasango to try and solve the power problems that challenges her. Today Nigeria produces less per capita than she did four years ago. Nigerians are suffering the consequences of less power but are reluctant to make the hard choices that can help them gain some modicum of independence.

I spent three weeks last year in Nigeria and everyone that has a generator adjusts electricity usage when they run the generator. One of the places I stayed in had two generators, one that ran till 9 pm and a bigger one that ran from 9 pm till the morning. Most other places only ran the necessary loads on generators and left off non essential loads. Yet most of the people who speak to us wants us to offer them an equivalent to grid power and expect generator cost for it. 2000 Watts is more than enough for most homes. It will power your fridge, your fans, your TV, your water pump and your lights. If you don’t have too many other things attached to it, it will power your 1.5 hp AC, TV, your fridge and lights at the same time. Visit our FAQ pages to answer your questions about Solar Power. We will be installing a couple of 1000 Watt systems on our next visit to Nigeria. We will video the loads that are attached to the 1000 Watt system for you to see. We will not solve the Nigerian energy problem, but we can help you weather it. We have 10 systems available, starting with the RaLiza Basic at less as $1500 for 600 Watts and all the way to the 20,000 Watt RaLiza Premium.

For our Business customer we have our Minona Premium Power solutions starting as low as $2.50 per watt.