The ongoing challenges surrounding the supply and distribution of electricity in Nigeria call for immediate solutions, encompassing the four shades of off-grid technologies.
Off-grid power technologies are designed to offer electricity services to end-users, irrespective and independent of the central power grid. These technologies create the possibility to effectively deliver electricity to businesses, especially in remote, rural communities.
Off-grid technologies also offer efficient and reliable power supply to mining, agriculture, and telecommunication businesses (learn more).
The four shades of off-grid technologies are as follows;
1. Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Installations: Solar PV systems convert sunlight into energy. The photovoltaic cells convert the energy from the sun’s light to cause an electrical current to flow between an array of solar panels into a battery storage system. The energy generated is thus stored in batteries for use at night. Solar PV installations could serve off-grid technologies either as mini-grid systems or stand-alone systems (learn more).
2. Wind Turbines: Electricity can be generated via winds. This system uses wind turbines to produce electricity by capturing the power of the wind to drive a generator, thus converting the mechanical energy to electrical energy. Wind turbines vary in size from microturbines for battery charging, small wind turbines less than 50kW to larger turbines over 1MW.
3. Small Hydropower (SPH) Systems: Hydropower typically is the energy generated from water. SHP systems use flowing water in streams to drive a turbine that turns a generator to produce electricity. SHP turbines utilise small rivers or spring-fed streams for power generation in situations where the height at which the waterfalls to the point of exploitation is sufficient to generate the amount of power required.
4. Biomass: Biomass energy is derived by using organic materials such as wood, agricultural and human waste to generate electricity. The Energy obtained from biomass is released through combustion, producing heat energy and electrical energy.