Free Tool

Solar Calculator Nigeria

Pick the appliances you want to power, and get an instant inverter, battery and solar panel size — with full cost.

Select Your Appliances

Backup Needs

With 12hrs of grid power, you have about 12hrs of outage per day. Suggested backup: 0.5 days.

Battery Settings

Suggested voltage for your load: 12V

Solar Panel Settings

Nigeria averages 5–6 peak sun hours/day; coastal/southern areas trend lower, northern areas trend higher.

Installation Allowance

% of component cost — covers cabling, mounting structure, and installer labour

Compare to Running a Generator

Diesel price: ₦1,200/litre

System Sizing

Connected Load0 W
Peak Load (with surge)0 W
Daily Energy Use0.00 kWh
Inverter
₦180,000
1 kVA
Battery Bank
₦0
0 × 200Ah units
Solar Panels
₦0
0 × 400W (0Wp)
Installation (12%)₦21,600
Total Cost₦201,600

How This Calculator Works

Each appliance you select contributes its running watts (quantity × watts × hours/day) to your daily energy use, which drives battery and panel sizing. For the inverter, we don't simply multiply every appliance by its starting-surge factor — fridges, ACs, freezers and pumps all have inductive motors that draw 2–3× their running watts for a moment at start-up, but they rarely all start at exactly the same instant. Instead, we size the inverter for your total running load plus the single largest individual surge, which reflects the realistic worst case. Battery capacity is calculated from your daily energy use, backup days, and your battery type's usable depth-of-discharge — lithium batteries can be discharged much further than lead-acid before damage, so a lithium bank needs less rated capacity for the same usable energy. Panel count comes from your daily energy use divided by your location's peak sun hours and a system derating factor that accounts for cabling losses, inverter efficiency, and panel soiling.

Tips for Accurate Results

1Be honest about hours/day per appliance — overestimating "essentials" usage is the most common reason people undersize their battery bank in practice.
2Air conditioners are by far the heaviest load on a backup system — most Nigerian solar setups intentionally exclude AC and size around "essentials" instead.
3Lithium batteries cost more upfront but their deeper usable discharge and longer lifespan often make them cheaper per year of use than lead-acid over a 5–10 year horizon.
4This calculator gives a planning-grade estimate. A qualified solar installer should verify your final system design, especially wiring configuration and structural mounting.

Need a full project estimate?

Use our complete Estimator for a full building cost breakdown and itemised Bill of Quantities.