Let´s make solar work consortium presented a new online PV-calculator that assesses the economics of PV Diesel Hybrid system projects in Nigeria

In recent years, a silent revolution has been going on with solar power as it has reached price parity with generator-based power production in a number of regions. Even in Nigeria using solar energy has become cheaper than running diesel generators. Many Nigerians are not yet fully aware about the specifics of solar power’s new competitiveness and that these developments provide many benefits for many power consumers, especially mid-sized power consumers.

Let’s make solar work” officially launched a new online “PV Calculator” on its website to address the knowledge gap that exists in Nigeria: http://letsmakesolarwork.com/pv-calculator. The tool compares costs of solar power with the current diesel generation costs for a planned PV project. The tool then uses this information to generate an individual economic approximation for the solar investment under consideration. It is easy to use, generates results quickly and has already demonstrated its effectiveness after an initial test period. Made by a team of German experts, the tool automatically calculates the LCOE, Payback, Equity IRR, Project IRR, NPV from just a few input data.  Solar suppliers will be able to effectively prepare for customer/stakeholder meetings with this tool and will be more competitive with concrete figures about the potential PV has in their region.

On May 31, the Let´s make solar work consortium, together with Renewable Energy Association of Nigeria (REAN) and with ideas in to energy, presented the online tool in a webinar to 35 interested Nigerian EPCs and other organizations promoting solar energy use in Nigeria to get to know the online tool and its features. Another webinar will take place in mid-June.

Let’s make solar work is an initiative of the companies SOLAR23, OneShore Energy, Solarmate Engineering and eclareon. It is co-funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development under the DeveloPPP programme. The online PV-calculator tool was jointly developed by the project partner eclareon together with the German non-profit research institute ideas into energy. The costs for tool development were co-funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy as well as by the German Federal Foreign Office.