Solar energy, the silver bullet to tackle perennial energy access challenges in Nigeria rural households: A case study

Abstract

Poor access to clean energy impacts the livelihood of the Nigeria rural population. This study investigated the use of solar energy in tackling the recurrent energy access challenges in Isoko South, Nigeria. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were applied to determine the status of access to electricity and the economic competitiveness of solar energy solutions. Questionnaires were administered to 250 randomly selected rural households. Results suggested that 76.8% of the respondents use grid-connected electricity, out of which, 49% operate back-up generators in the event of grid power failure. Notwithstanding, 7.6% of the respondents do not have access to any form of electricity. All the respondents demonstrated the willingness to pay for reliable and cleaner energy solutions. To fully electrify a one-bedroom apartment with 17.9 kWh of solar energy, daily, a life cycle cost of 2.64 million naira was estimated. Solar energy consumption of the one-bedroom apartment is at a unit cost of energy of 57.57 naira, with a payback period of 5 years. Due to the high upfront cost of solar solutions, it is recommended that the government should provide a solar subsidy (like the defunct petrol-based subsidy) and fiscal policies that promote solar energy penetration in the rural areas.