₦airaland Forum

venal:
and when you realize you were charged for the call

That's the worst. LOL.

EgunMogaji:
I will tell you this one fact, I have never seen a house built in Nigeria that passed my cosmetic challenge, NONE. So try not to be over critical, they just don't have the skillset or work ethics to do an impressive job. (I'll have to drag out my anti flame suit for this wayward comment I'm sure ).

Good luck.

Neither have I. We like good things but don't care to make good things.
I'm yet to see a single straight and true anything Nigeria be it wall, ceiling, roof, column, window, or tiles. Our roads are not straight; neither are our queues or stories. Even our mosquitoes don't fly straight.

true2home any progress on the building? Did you decide to suspend till you're able to physically be on site?

I too have learned the value of "being present", since nothing seems to happen the moment they know I'm away, even for 1 day.

And the locals will complain if we don't give them jobs, yet make the worst of it. More than once I've contemplated bringing workers from the SW that I'm familiar with to complete the job sharp sharp.

So this story done get K-leg oh... remember we had redone the roof? Well, it turned out that the roofing people had left one side of the facing board unclad, and they had also left that side of the woodwork (about 1.5 ft of woodwork) uncompleted. So there is a gap in the roof of 1.5ft by 20ft in the roof. They claimed that they ran out of materials to finish everything in one day. Roofing that we've already paid for all materials. This is a SIMPLE flat roof, so how can we have miscalculated on materials?

No problem, let's restart on Monday. Suddenly LGA boys show up and start their wahala, taking cement, zinc, tools, from the site. We had settled these people more than 6 months ago, but it seems the oga and deputy we gave money to simple ate the money. Now they are asking for 240k before we can continue roofing.. All the money and effort spent on removing panels, wood, aluminium, etc seems like just a waste since the decking is getting soaked, just like before. I done tire for Delta.

It seems too much of a coincidence that these events happened and I smell a rat... could it be one of the roofing people? The engineer? I'm beginning to get paranoid and the trouble in this place is really discouraging any kind of development.

More later as this saga continues.

true2home:
Look at it from this direction, YOU have impacted knowledge on solar installion on all of us. Thank You

Thank you... I just want to help us move forward and be a good resource for the coming solar future.

pode:
We should stop taking law into our hands

It's easy to say "we should stop taking the law into our hands", but we have no other recourse. Would you say the same thing if you had been terrorized for weeks by this man? Or (God forbid) if a female relative of yours was raped? Or killed?

And what of the law enforcement that is supposed to prevent these robberies from happening? They don't get support from their ogas at the top (old weapons, no bullets, no fuel, and no help for their widows when they die). Sometime law enforcement simply looks the other way as long as they are settled. So we have no choice but to enforce the law.

I hear some of you say, "they should just hold the guy until the police arrive". You realize that unlike police and the judicial system, individuals are not protected by squads of fellow police or bulletproof jackets. If they don't kill this robber today, what makes you think they would be safe from reprisal attacks once he settles police or calls his oga-at-the-top to release him. If the law wants to deal with robbers their way, then the law should apprehend the robbers themselves.

Nigeria, where power, water, petrol are still issues in 2016... problems that most of the world solved in 1940s... smh

The gist of this post: anybody tilting their solar panels South in Nigeria should stop doing so; go flat or slightly North. South-facing panels suffer from the double disadvantage that the Sun transits North during the rainy season.

So we've all read that we should tilt our solar panels southward for maximum energy production… but has anyone of us in the tropics actually studied the position of the sun in Nigeria? Most of us have not, and blindly apply calculations made for the far-Nothern hemisphere (e.g. North America and Europe). If you've studied the position of the sun at different times of the year as I have from June last year to this year, you'll come to the same realization that I (and a handful of Nigerian scientists) have come to: don't tilt solar panels at all.

Early last year I read some insolation documentation [1-4] published by several universities and research centers in Nigeria which got me thinking…

Remember that our building is oriented such that the front faces directly West (and the back East). My empirical evidence shows that in October-March, the Sun transits East-to-West on the South side (warming up the living room), whereas April-September, it transits on the North side (warming up the bathroom). These transits peak in January (most South) and July (most North) respectively, see the included pictures. The sun travels directly overhead during the first week of April, and again during the second week of September, in accordance to the tilt of the earth.

Now since we're not directly at the equator (6 degrees off), we'll get slightly more insolation on the South side, but not enough to offset the fact that if you point your panels South in Nigeria, you will get much worse performance between May and September. These are the months we really need to face the Sun since it's the rainy season, so if anything those panels should point North. This is supported by experience, as well as data from Table 1 in the first referenced paper. Counter-intuitive, but only for those living in the far-Northern hemisphere; it makes total sense for those of us in the tropics.

I have empirical data that I've gathered, but to illustrate my point, I made some graphs using a sun position calculator [5]. The results support my thesis that panels should either be flat, or as the next choice, titled slightly North.

This brings us to the next problem: when do we want maximum power generation? In the morning when the panels and batteries are cooler (more efficient), which means we tilt East. Or in the afternoon to support higher demand in the late afternoon (e.g air-conditioning) when panels are now hot (less efficient), which means we tilt West. Is there generally more cloud in the morning than in the late afternoon? What about likelihood of rain? The only way to answer is to gather more data in the coming year, so stay tuned...


1. http://www.ijetae.com/files/Volume3Issue6/IJETAE_0613_87.pdf
2. http://www.arpnjournals.com/jeas/research_papers/rp_2012/jeas_1212_834.pdf
3. http://www.academicjournals.org/journal/IJPS/article-full-text-pdf/9209E9618145
4. http://www.academicjournals.org/journal/IJSTER/article-full-text-pdf/77B50DF5132
5. http://www.pveducation.org/pvcdrom/properties-of-sunlight/sun-position-calculator and using 6 degrees as latitude and longitude, at around 12:45pm during the different months.

lionshare:
Why cant govt discourage people from going abroad to study....too much capital flight.

I imagine it would be easier if gov't improved the quality of schools: e.g. paid lecturers, provided up-to-date learning facilities and labs, provided electricity and water. Who wants to waste money on all the expenses of a foreign education? But with the crappy quality of what is available at home (and the guarantee that you WON'T get a job with a Naija degree), even Ghana is a better alternative.

This is another case of the cart leading the horse: we won't improve our educational system, but we just make it very hard to study abroad… sigh

Pic 1. The panels in their temporary resting place... whether we'll put them back on the roof, or install them closer to the ground is still up for debate.

Pic 2. The terrible state of the flashing and of the silicone gives me real doubts that a roof made of panels would have been water-tight for even one rainy season.

Pic 3. This observation might help inform others (and our final decision): in spite of the heavy rains we're having, there's a thin layer of dust that has settled on the panels in the short 3 months they've been up. For comparison we wiped the left side of the panel. As more layers of dust accumulate over the years, solar production will also decrease. This is expected, but our assumption that any dust would be washed away by rain is partially correct: most of the dust would be washed off, but enough would still accumulate that can only be removed by manual wiping.

If only someone would invent a windshield wiper for solar panels...

We've taken the very painful step of uninstalling panels, removing steel beams, and are now banging in the roofing wood for a regular roof. We'll revisit the panels once we place the aluminium sheets on the roof.

RichYoungRuler:
Hi Boss, just a question, do you think using a thick membrane like tarpaulin or thick gauge nylons before installing the panels could have worked?

It might have worked... if you can get the tarpaulin to be taught so that water doesn't form puddles on it. Then there's the screw holes that go between the panels and the beams... those holes can easily become long term headaches as they tear over time

Sai Baba... may you recover speedily.

But, I hope the President will do the needful and stand down if this starts affecting him too much oh. Let's not have a repeat of the Yaradua power vaccum oh.

Una hear me? (I'm sure Baba no go hear...)
Baba, I say, "YOU HEAR WETIN I TALK? MAKE YOU NO COME QUENCH LIKE YOUR BOY OH"

YoursGEJ:
1) a few hours per day of charge is ok
2) Totally off-grid
3) I'm ok with increasing the capacity over time. Does not have to be done all at once.

I think I will need a 2-3KV set up. Do you know how much this might cost to put together?

I checked out Solynta. It is too expensive and Konga/Jumia sell systems for much cheaper. Konga has a 2.5-3.5 KV systems for between N400,000 - N500,000. Do you think the Konga deals are good deals?

I would like to buy components myself and pay someone to put everything together. I'm just wondering what my budget should be.

Eagerly looking forward to your reply

Frankly, I think you'll not save as much as you think, once all the little details are added up. You'll need to pay for:

- 10 solar panels for a 2.5kW system
- 4 200Ah batteries (note you can only use 1/2 battery capacity if you want them to reach 3 years)
- 2 inverters (yes, two, don't skimp here)
- thick cables (I forget the gauge, but it's much larger than regular 2.5mm), and this gets expensive per meter
- TY branch connectors
- aluminum channel rods
- tons of aluminum holders, bolts, nuts, washers
- transport, especially if you're outside Lagos, like me
- labour
- many other little bits and pieces that you'll have to waste time and money looking for, one at a time

Their price includes all the above, plus the assurance that they will provide all you need. I could have learned and got all these parts myself (after all I am an electrical engineer), but since this is not my domain, I paid (extra?) for the domain expertise and peace of mind. I was working on an already complex project, and didn't want to take more risk by buying all these pieces separately (which ironically can end up costing more)

For instance, I just took a cursory look at konga, and I found several systems described variously as 2.5kv, 1kv, etc… with inadequate number of panels. Two 250W panels is just 500W. How does that translate to 2.5kV? It's that kind of misinformation that can be quite dangerous if this is your first time. A lot of them use the much cheaper PWM chargers, when you really want the more efficient MPPT types. There's debate for which is better for Nigeria's hot weather, and some people even advocate spending more money on more panels than on a better charger, but YMMV. One such advertised system costs about #500k, but I imagine your final cost after all is said and done will be more like #800k.

Why don't you get a system from konga, try it out, and document it here?

A shining example of what's wrong with Nigeria. I don't know the lady - and I don't mean to cast aspersions - but she couldn't even offer to do some work or something for Kate… no resume, no initiative, no plan, just plain begging, waiting for a handout or lucky payout.

I think Kate's reply was very appropriate… if you're waiting for a handout (from me or from Government), you are on a looooong ting.

bookface:
Suppose, the CBN choose to give the 10 billion notes to just 10 people, would this cause inflation? The answer is no!

Are you kidding? In Nigeria? You give 10 billion to 10 people, they will spend it on fancy real estate, jets, and mistresses, raising the prices of these goods and services for the rest of us. They will give some of that money to their wives and daughters, who will use it to indirectly raise the price of Brazilian hair, heels, and shawarma, which will cause runs girls to raise their prices. Their sons will also get some of that money and use that to raise the price of watches, ciroc and other weekend flexing tinz.

And this being Nigeria, the police will find a way to increase their bribe, er, mandatory daily taxes, which as everyone knows, is a large component in the cost of tomatoes. So when our billionaire guy wants to throw his next monthly owambe, he will be shocked to find that the jollof rice budget more than tripled

You have to be able to back up all these promises (that's what money is: promise to deliver value to the bearer).

The first issue with printing out money is inflation: everybody may have paper money, but the supply of tomatoes has not increased. All you'll do by printing more money is that the price of the available tomatoes goes up, as the seller will want to sell to the person who wants to give the most money. When the seller wants to go to the bank to deposit the cash, he may find that transport has gone up, since the number of taxis has not increased. When taxi driver then goes to buy fuel, he may find that fuel has also gone up, since there has not been an increase in fuel supply. Fuel seller goes back to the market to find that tomatoes has gone up again this week. As this goes round and round, you'll have the current situation in Zimbabwe.

The second issue is that we cannot fool the world into loaning us money if we're not being more productive or making things of value (this is the privilege of a certain country whose currency is presently the world's trading currency, but arguably that position has been earned over the past century and half. Now if you're that country and you feel like pumping your contracting economy (and by extension saving the world economy from collapsing) by increasing the money supply, you'll find that there are people who will buy your promise for a small fee (interest), based on your previous history of paying/honoring your promise over time.

Since Nigeria does not plan to increase the supply of goods and services, and since it has really terrible trust in the global scene, it has no business printing more currency

"Trouble sleep, yang go wake am…"
"Wetin he dey faaaaaaaaaaiiinnnnddd?"
"Palava, he day find"
"Palava he go get oooooooooooh"

Sidechick please remember: there are leading ladies, and there are supporting roles… don't get the two mixed up

*Disclaimer: I agree it was a horrible thing that happened to her, and I hope the perpetrators get brought to justice.

bigx:
30 Kwh takes 2 1hp & 1 1.5hpAC, 2 led tv's, 5 ceiling fans, 2 standing fans, bulbs, 2 fridges, 1 water dispenser & 4 laptops for 12 hrs in my office. (according to my phcn prepaid meter)

Yes, and that's one example of use. We wanted to have uninterrupted power, so we reduced the amount of utilities so that we'd always have light*, even on days the sun doesn't shine to bright.

*We're aiming to be the first place in Nigeria to always have light 24/7, except for about 1 hour per year of scheduled maintenance.

pulsa:
... I have profound respect for the Igbo's as they are extremely intelligent, enterprising, and if you will agree with me technologically savvy.

Sigh… I appreciate your post, but I must say I find it patronizing. Nigeria (and the world), is full of people who are "extremely intelligent, enterprising, and if you will agree with me technologically savvy.", and I feel that to single out a subgroup does a disservice to everybody else.

bigrovar:
Just get a wielder to make something. You can also use wood. The wielder would use angle bar for the panels. It can be screwed tight to the panels to prevent flying. Check on YouTube too.

Good idea… any pictures or links to look at?

UuzbaGuuzba:
This thread began 1 year ago with OP talking about solar powered hostel. Above my comment, the thread don change to curse and insult. Which time all this one start?

OP, if you are still there, please let us see pictures of you inside the hostel. Enough long English. Did it work or not? Make the hostel, enter inside and charge your phone/PC/TV... Then we may know which way to build our houses. Or Employ you to do so for us.

There's this British guy, James Dyson. He makes Dyson Vacuum cleaners. It ain't easy. But he don't speak too much English no more. Just put the ideas into a prototype.

This thread is a continuous conversation, starting from a germ of an idea. It's a work in progress, and we still haven't finished it. Though as mentioned on Page 1, we're producing about 30kWH per day, which is more than enough to charge resident's phones and portable PCs. I imagine it will carry a TV, but we're still on it. Even the way we're delivering power (straight 48V DC to the outlets), or inverting the battery output to 220V is still under debate, as we're investigating efficiencies.

So, as we haven't finished it, there's no "picture inside" yet. I also feel that detailed documentation is far more useful for somebody else to replicate this work, and to avoid making the same mistakes.

It's been an eventful experience, filled with cost overruns (and running out of money), land disputes, vandalism (see the HUGE holes made when vandals came to break the thing), area youths claiming their share, misunderstandings between contractors, engineers and various labour, as well as the fact that we're learning a lot about the project as we're going.

charix:
OP has abandoned the thread or got himself banned? How far na, any progress?

We still have a roof made of solar panels that leaks, and doesn't have a fascia board to prevent water into the top wall… we're still trying to resolve that issue (and a possible solution might involve moving the panels to a ground mount so we can uses a regular roof on the building).

Been busy

YoursGEJ:
How much would it cost to set up a solar energy system for a 3 bedroom house? One 70 inch LCD TV, fridge, 10 bulbs, 2 laptops, charging 8 mobile phones?

The short answer is that you should just budget #2.5M for a system that will last through the night.

The long answer is that there are a lot of variables in your cost request:
- do you want to be able to run (for example) for 3 days continuously? or just a few hours per day of charge
- are you supplementing NEPA, gen, or will this be totally off grid?
- will you be satisfied with increasing capacity over time, or you want full capacity today?

I've already mentioned two places you can get started with Solar systems in Naija, so you can check them out… Solynta for instance, gives you a good sense of how much will buy a system close to your needs.

bigrovar:
Sorry I did not read through all your thread. But why does the panel have to be on the roof? There is a general misconception that panels have to be on the roof to perform well.. which is not always true in fact ground mounted panels (if u have a shade free space to mount them) out performs roof mounted for the following reasons:

- They are more efficient: (heat from roof affects efficiency)
- Much easier to maintain
- Easier to achieve the right panel tilt and direction

These are really good points, and after going through all this hassle, I totally concur. I have pondered dedicating a part of the site just to solar panels, and in light of what I'm experiencing - and your logic - I just might remount these panels on the ground. How would you keep them secured to the ground so they don't develop wings and walk away? Weld them?

I don't have a traditional roof, so I thought I'd save money by making the panels the roof (note that there is no traditional wood and sheets roof on this house). I was also going for the "wow" factor of having a radical type of roofing, but what a pain in the ass it's been.

Danfuster:
Delta girls and Shawarma are like bread and butter

Yes oo!!!! I don't think I've met a girl in Delta who didn't eventually ask for shawarma... I'm like "sheet, why don't you buy [i]me [/i]shawarma"

Yawn....

abeg, please wake me up when we actually play football

#3. They wake up one morning and start acting all nice. She is nice by remembering you on Saturday and Sunday and GBAM, Monday, she needs 5k from you and she'll pay back

Special shout out to my delta gurls... I see you... with your "longest time... how fa... drop sometin na" greetings...

I hope we run out of dollars, then at least these idiots won't be able to buy weapons... of course the rest of the economy will suffer, but perhaps the economy needs to grind to a complete halt... then we'll start thinking with our brains again. smh

acooriz:
Biko...let me leavw Nigeria b4 its too late

Better hurry, before all the airlines close up.

I'll quote myself from December 2015:

"However, the short term draconian shutting off will send the economy into a downward spiral since people can't spend their money, businesses and banks will get more tight fisted, which means less hiring, which means less money, and so on. It's not rocket science, and it's not mere speculation: we've actually been through this scenario [1983-1984] before and it took us 25 years to recover."

I just hope we will be wiser with our choice of leaders in 2019

SAINTSAMURAII:
CHAI are these our leaders? how will a man that sleeps on duty be able to take care of a more quantitative sector as the power sector. chai Nigerians are not ready for development yet.

He is in a vehicle (train or bus I can't tell). What's wrong with catching a nap on the way to a function or event? If he was sleeping during a cabinet meeting or some other event, then sure, I can back you up. How many naps have you caught while in transit?

I just have to laugh out loud at this... we import petrol and tomatoes... in a country that has oil underground and more arable land than England.
Mismanagement of resources is not good at all...