Simulation and Analysis of a Standalone PV Solar Power Plant for a Housing Estate in Abuja, Nigeria

Abstract

Abuja is located within the guinea savannah climatic zone of Nigeria and receives a global horizontal irradiation (GHI) of about 2.04 MWh/m2/year. With this, solar photovoltaic (PV) systems can serve as the main source of electricity for homes and businesses in the city. To further expose this reality, a feasibility study was carried out. A standalone PV solar power plant for a typical 200 bungalow housing estate in Abuja, Nigeria was designed and simulated to study its technical and economic feasibility using PVsyst 7.3 software. The design shows that with the 2.04 MWh/m2/year global horizontal irradiation reaching Abuja, a 360 kWp PV system is needed to supply the energy needs of an estate with an energy demand of 1,480 kWh/day. The system will produce a total of 571,288 kWh of electric energy per year with a performance ratio of 75.4 % and a solar fraction of 96.7%. The proposed project is highly feasible as the economic evaluation results show that the system’s installation cost is 399,350 USD at a specific cost of 1.11 USD/kWp, and the net present value (NPV) is positive at 932,230.45 USD, 854,946.51 USD, and 808.576.15 USD, respectively for the three cases of 0%, 50%, and 80% loan financing. Housing Estate and Solar Energy developers are therefore called upon to take advantage of the positive outcome of this study to promote Solar PV systems deployment in Abuja, Nigeria.