Power outages particularly in Nigeria have been the norm for several decades now and the power situation has sadly not improved. In this article, we will briefly show you how we installed a 2 KW solar system in a flat with 1-bedroom and 1 living room and how we ran it on only solar energy for a moth to test out its reliability. Long story short, is yes, it works! and you can do it too.
Let’s get into it!
The Flat
- 1-bedroom flat
- 1 sitting room
- 1 kitchen
- 2 toilets and a shower.
The Appliances Needed for This Setup
This is a list of the electrical appliances that were used in the flat:
- A total of 13 light bulbs power inside and outside the flat (energy saving bulbs)
- A 24-inch LG TV
- A Samsung energy saving fridge
- Phones and laptops
- 2 standing fans
- Microwave
- LG inverter Air Conditioner (This thing is amazing. It reduces the amount of energy the AC uses when you are on a generator or with a click of a button)
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| All your light bulbs should ideally be energy-saving bulbs. |
These Osram Energy Saver bulbs are quite popular in the market and can be gotten from most convenience stores. I got mine from one of the big supermarkets in Lagos. The light bulbs use very little amount of energy and thus, don’t use up a lot of your power from your battery. During the energy assessment before installing the system, it was discovered that the 3 conventional 60W bulbs used more energy than my energy-saving fridge. That’s crazy!
The Solar Energy System Setup
- 8 250W solar panels
- 4 12V 200Ah batteries
- One 2KW Inverter
- Energy-efficient light bulbs
How long will it power my house for?
This depends. This setup currently uses a 2KW system and it powers the house for 24-hours with about 40% of battery left by the next morning. So ideally, you can use a 1KW system for the type of flat in the picture above but you will just have to be more conservative with my energy. The 2KW will allow you to use all appliances, including the inverter AC (only when sunny) without having to worry about the batteries running out of power.
If you use the air conditioner when the sun isn’t out, you will most likely run the battery out in about 5 hours. However, in our test, we never left it on for that long as we just needed it to cool the living room for about an hour or 2.
One point to note though, the system was installed in 2015 and we had to change the batteries once since that time because we didn’t ensure that the batteries werestored in a cool place at the time, so they didn’t last as long as they should have. Other than that, we haven’t really spent any money on extra power ever since.
How many solar panels will I need?
Find out more here.
How can I get this system?
We know how difficult it can be getting legitimate products in Nigeria, so we went through the trouble ourselves and did the work for you by vetting different solar providers and listing them on our site. We’ve listed out several options for you to go solar below. You can also call us(+234-9081680748) today and we will be glad to put you through.
- The solar system in the example above was installed by Solynta Energy and the batteries from Rila Investment. They both offer good payment plans so you don’t have to pay outright if you can’t afford a one-time purchase.
- Lumos Prime and ZOLA FLEX solar systems are also very good products for smaller energy requirements.
- For power specific items in your home, the Salpha Energy Solar Home Kits are your best bets!
Still not sure?
No worries, moving to solar can be challenging sometimes but we are here to help you get the right solution for your home or business. Send us an email or call us today to buy your solar panel solutions.
- Email: hello@woletenergy.com
- Phone: +234-9081680748