Do you want to have an alternative power supply?

Do you want to have an alternative power supply?

Maybe Solar system, Inverter-Battery solution? But you are not certain on what brand of products to buy, the quantity you will need to power your facility or the amount it will cost you?

Probably you’ve started researching for some brands of products or gotten quote from some Engineers but it seems overwhelming and you are not satisfied with the results? I am here for you!

I usually get this kind of calls from friends, families and also from people that knows I worked in the Solar Energy Industry.

They will ask me something like this, “Victoria, I want to buy solar system to power my house, it should be able to power my TV, Fridge, Water pump, AC, all the fans and light bulbs, how much will it cost me or which brand should I buy?

At times, some will even say, I want the solar system that will power everything in my house for Nx00,000.

This makes me giggles!!!

Can you connect with any of these?

I believe you can…..

We’re all trying to be careful by avoiding being ripped off in purchasing unreliable solar products,

With promises from so called technicians …..just to collect our money

And abandoning us after purchasing unreliable solar products for us that will not meet our needs.

I completely agree with what you’re thinking, and luckily I have a solution for you, is a tested and a practical guide that I usually use when interacting with my first-time buyers…..

…..bunch of questions though..

But when you answer these questions, you will understand what you need?

Before I ask the questions, let me clarify some things, there is difference between buying a complete solar system and an Inverter-Battery solution.

Solar system consists of Solar panels, Inverter, Batteries, Charge controller, etc, which gets its source of power directly from the sun, it means you have to install the panels on your roof,

while Inverter-Battery solution consists of Inverter, Batteries, etc and gets its power from either PHCN or Generator.

So, back to the practical guide? You will need to write the answers.

• Do you want to power your house or office?

• How many rooms do you have?

• What type of appliances do you have and how many of them?- “Total Load Demand”.

• How many hours do you use this appliances in a day?

• Which of this appliances do you use on a daily basis? - “Critical Load Demand”.

• How many hours of power supply do you need in a day?

• How many hours of power do you have from PHCN in a day?

• Do you have a generator? If Yes, what’s the capacity?

• How many hours of back-up power do you want the Solar system or Inverter-Battety solution to provide for you?

• If you want a Solar system, do you have access to your own roof or it is a shared building?

• What is the budget plan?

My own recommendation are:

• Work with your “Critical Load Demand” and the numbers of hours your generator power supply

• If you have between 5-7 hours power supply from PHCN and you don’t have access to your own roof. you can consider using an Inverter-Battery solution which means your PHCN power will charge your batteries.

With these you will be able to reduce the cost you would have to spend in acquiring a larger capacity system that you can’t utilize maximally.

• Get the wattage of each of the appliances (Critical Load Demand)

• Write out the number of hours you use this appliance

• Multiply the wattage and the hours for each appliance (Watt-Hours)

• Sum it up to get the Total Load you need in a day.

Look at the table below:

Total Load =135W, 380Wh/day

Using this method will help you get an estimate of your daily power needs and it will help boost your confidence when next you are talking to your technician or a solar dealer.

It’s simple, right?......

This method of Energy Audit cost one of the solar energy company I worked for N30,000 for a site and I am gave you this knowledge for free.

Alright!

You may probably be thinking who the heck am I to be telling you these…

My name is Victoria Edeha-Anthony, a Solar Energy Copywriter and Marketer.

I help first time solar buyers get reliable solar products that meet their power needs and budget.

I am an Energy Auditor and a MiniGrid

Designer.

Before I moved into copywriting and marketing, I have worked as a Project Developer, Operations Analyst, Commercial Lead and a Customer Service Personnel in the Solar Energy Industry.

I have trained about 50 youths on Energy Audit across 4 cities, supervised about 300 sites on practical energy audit.

In 2020, I was featured as one of the panelist at the Masterclass on Energy Audit by Energy Training Centre.