Impact of Off-Grid Solar Home Systems on Energy Spending in Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Energy insecurity in the developing nation of Nigeria has driven communities and households in both rural and urban areas to adopt solar home systems (SHS) as a source of household energy. A report published by Fraym^® is used by the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) for Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP) to develop its Energy Transition Plan for 100% electrification. It focuses on 10 Nigerian states, and points to customer profiles for top off-grid communities from these states. This report reveals the top twenty communities with the highest propensity to adopt SHS. The concentration of the top fifty solar home system communities is particularly significant among these communities, covering approximately 570,000 households in Oyo State. This unique positioning makes Oyo State an ideal focal point for conducting an empirical analysis. Conducting a cross-sectional empirical analysis in Omiyale, Madeko, Saki, and Ibadan, the study employs a stratified random sampling approach, selecting 40 SHS and 40 non-SHS households. The findings underscore the overall efficacy of off-grid SHS in addressing energy poverty. SHS owners exhibit a substantial improvement in lighting usage, marked by a notable shift towards cleaner and sustainable energy sources. Notably, SHS ownership correlates with a positive economic impact, as monthly expenditures for energy among SHS households decrease by an average of 1287.308 Naira per month. This economic saving stems from reduced reliance on conventional energy sources like candles, kerosene, and batteries.

Received: 3 September 2024 | Revised: 22 November 2024 | Accepted: 20 January 2025

Conflicts of Interest 

The author declares that he has no conflicts of interest to this work.

Data Availability Statement 

Data available on request from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Author Contribution Statement

Obinna John Anagbakwu: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Resources, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Visualization.