1.1 Introduction
A solar panel is a device that is able to absorb sun rays and convert it into electrical energy precisely DC. The photovoltaic panel comprised of silicon crystals, which reacts with sun ray and under this process, converts the sun rays into electricity. They supply the electricity for charging the batteries and for use by the appliances either directly or through an inverter. Multiple modules where used to produce more electricity and then any excess energy that was produced was stored in the batteries for use during the cloudy/ rainy weather (Shoewu et al., 2011). The panels are available in different sizes, voltages and amperage. They can be wired in series or in parallel depending on how the system is designed.
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
Over the years, there had been epileptic power supply due to uncontrollable factors such as vandalization of electric cables, drop in volume of water flows in dams, heavy rainfall overloading of transformers, bridging of power cables. The converted voltage, 12V AC gets to the transformer via the switching stage, the signal will be stepped up from 12V AC to 220V AC before the output will be supplied to the load and small to a low input charger that converts the AC voltage to DC by bridge rectifier circuit that charges the 12V battery. The relay switches to the DC operators to power the load connected to the inverter. Many inverters of different types have been developed such as square wave modified sine wave, multilevel and pure sine wave inverters. The square wave inverters were the simplest, least expensive and early incarnation of inverter technology. They are seldom seen because of the low quality power.
The continuous growth of scarcity of energy (both mechanical and electrical energy in Nigeria has grown overtime); is one among the factors hampering the industrial growth and economic progress in Nigeria. The federal government of Nigeria through the ministry of power have put in so much effort to fix the problem of power instability in Nigeria; setting up of new power plant will be heavily dependent on import of highly volatile fossil fuels or the over-utilization of the available mineral resource thereby affecting the export of crude oil and other resources in Nigeria.
Solar Power a clean renewable resource with zero emission has got tremendous potential of energy which can be harnessed using a variety of devices. With recent developments, solar energy systems are easily available for industrial and domestic use with the added advantage of minimum maintenance. Solar energy could be made financially viable with government tax incentives and rebates. Most of the developed countries are switching over to solar energy as one of the prime renewable energy source. The current architectural designs make provision for photovoltaic cells and necessary circuitry while making building plans.
Recently, according to Federal Ministry of Environment (2013), there have been several renewable energy projects in many countries which shows clearly that renewable energy can directly contribute to poverty alleviation by providing a substantial amount of energy needed for creating businesses and employment especially in rural communities that have not yet been connected to the National grid. Several renewable energy technologies are presently being used to supply energy for cooking, space heating, lighting, automobiles, etc. The combination of energy efficiency, conservation, and renewable energy resources, should allow Nigeria to meet any future increase in demand without increasing its reliance on non-renewable resources (Federal Ministry of Environment, 2013). Solar energy can be seen as the anchor behind various forms of renewable energy.
According to (Tyagi et al., 2013) stated that it anchors hydro power where the hydrological cycle is being controlled by the sun as well as Wind Power where the movement of air is due to the heating effect of the sun on the atmosphere. In general, heat, kinetic energy, electrical energy and chemical energy can be provided via solar energy conversion.
Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Effects of Solar Power Energy on the Economy of Nigeria.
1.3 Statement of Problems
Investigation reveals that the existing system is not ideal for inductive AC and motor loads, sensitive electronic devices can be damaged by poor wave forms by low batteries, and reduced efficiency, more complexity, increased cost. Although basic switching regulator technology and its advantages have been known for years, a lack of the necessary switching transistors, rectifier diodes, and filter capacitors caused certain performance problems that were costly to minimize.
As a result, these supplies were used only in airborne, space, or other applications where cost was a secondary consideration to weight and size. However, the advent of high-voltage, fast switching power transistors, fast recovery diodes, and new filter capacitors with lower series resistance and inductance, have propelled switching supplies to a position of great prominence in the power supply industry.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to determine the Effects of Solar Power Energy on the Economy of Nigeria. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To compare the cost of implementation of solar power to other sources of power;
- To examine the effect of solar power on poverty alleviation in Nigeria;
- To examine the effect of solar power on the economy of Nigeria; and
- To investigate on the factors affecting the effective implementation of solar power in most industries in Nigeria.
1.5 Research Questions
The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:
- Is there any difference in the cost of implementation of solar power to other sources of power?
- What is the effect solar power on the economy of Nigeria?
- What is the effect of solar power on poverty alleviation in Nigeria?
- What are the factors affecting the effective implementation of solar in most industries in Nigeria?
1.6 Research Hypothesis
In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.
Hypothesis One
- H0: There are no significant factors affecting the effective implementation of solar in most industries in Nigeria
- H1: There are significant factors affecting the effective implementation of solar in most industries in Nigeria
1.7 Significance of Study
The study on the effect of solar power after completion will be of immense benefit to Nigeria as a country, the federal government of Nigeria, the power sector, the small and medium scale enterprises and other research students that wishes to carryout similar research on the above topic as the study will reveal the effect of the implementation of solar power on the economy, the effect will also be seen in the area of poverty alleviation etc.
This study will be of immense benefit to other researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.
1.8 Scope of Study
The scope of the research is focused on the Effects of Solar Power Energy on the Economy of Nigeria.
1.9 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Establishment Policies: Establishment policies posed a serious limitation as most staffs are not ready to release information needed for this project work. There were lots of information needed from the staffs of this establishment to enhance the study which took them time to release or they did not release at all for security purposes, hence the scope was reduced.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
1.10 Definition of Terms
Solar Power: is the conversion of sunlight into electricity, either directly using photo-voltaic (PV), or indirectly using concentrated solar power.
Biomass: is organic matter derived from living, or recently living organisms. Biomass can be used as a source of energy and it most often refers to plants or plant-based materials that are not used for food or feed, and are specifically called lignocellulose biomass.
Geothermal Energy: is the heat from the Earth. It's clean and sustainable. Resources of geothermal energy range from the shallow ground to hot water and hot rock found a few miles beneath the Earth's surface, and down even deeper to the extremely high temperatures of molten rock called magma.
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