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    Abia State

    Rooftop solar in Arochukwu, Abia: what the roofs are worth

    Arochukwu has 36,989 buildings with a viable rooftop and 909k kWp of roof capacity. 87% run a generator, and together they spend ₦53.8bn a year on energy.

    Viable buildings

    36,989

    Usable roof area

    4.04m m²

    909k kWp roof capacity

    Energy spend

    ₦53.8bn/yr

    47.5m kWh/yr burned on generators

    Median payback

    1.6 yr

    Median IRR 61% (cash saved)

    The savings bracket for Arochukwu

    Approach B

    Cash saved

    What these buildings stop paying — merit order, capped at current spend.

    Current energy spend₦53.8bn/yr
    Year-one cash saved₦52.5bn
    Lifetime cash saved₦2.23tn
    NPV₦353bn
    Median IRR61%
    Median payback1.6 yr
    Unlocked energy45.4m kWh/yr
    Approach A

    Energy value (upper bracket)

    What the energy is worth if full latent demand were met. Not cash saved.

    Installed capacity240k kWp
    Capex₦231bn
    Year-one energy value₦218bn
    Lifetime energy value₦10.2tn
    NPV₦1.74tn
    Median IRR111%
    Median payback0.9 yr

    Three ways to size Arochukwu's rooftops

    Solar + battery. The default headline scenario, and the one the SEO fact base quotes. Prices the energy a full solar+storage system would deliver.

    Baseline: mixed
    Counterfactual: grid when available, generator otherwise, weighted by the NTL-derived grid availability. The realistic case, and what the headline numbers use. Always falls between grid and genset by construction.

    Read with care: Sized to LATENT demand — the energy the building would use if it could. Against a cash baseline that only reflects today's spend this looks oversized; that is what sc3 exists to fix.

    System size
    240k kWp
    Capital cost
    ₦231bn
    Year 1 savings
    ₦218bn/yr
    NPV
    ₦1.74tn
    Median IRR
    111%
    Median payback
    0.9 yr

    How many rooftops in Arochukwu actually pay

    Counted building by building on the cash-saved basis (merit-order sized, valued against what the building spends today), not read off an average. 36,989 of 36,989 clear a positive NPV.

    Payback

    Under 3 years28,679 (78%)
    Under 5 years31,562 (85%)
    Under 7 years36,989 (100%)
    Under 10 years36,989 (100%)

    Return (IRR)

    Above 10%36,989 (100%)
    Above 15%36,989 (100%)
    Above 20%31,731 (86%)
    Above 25%31,280 (85%)
    CO₂ avoided

    98m kg/yr

    Fuel avoided

    30.1m L/yr

    Energy unlocked

    45.4m kWh/yr

    Demand that is suppressed today

    People served

    284k

    What hardware costs right now

    Median advertised rates from our Nigerian market tracker — the same prices used to cost a system in Arochukwu.

    Solar panels

    250

    ₦/W

    Inverters

    127,419

    ₦/kVA

    Batteries

    177,500

    ₦/kWh

    Building mix in Arochukwu

    Load profile

    SegmentBuildings With generator Spend ₦/yr Cash saved yr 1 (B) Median IRR Median payback
    Residential35,93431,219₦48.1bn₦46.9bn61%1.6 yr
    Anchor427360₦3.65bn₦3.57bn55%1.9 yr
    Commercial General353285₦1.42bn₦1.42bn49%2.1 yr
    Worship201189₦345m₦345m55%1.9 yr
    Industrial5848₦285m₦284m53%1.9 yr
    Filling Station75₦7.65m₦7.65m27%3.9 yr
    Commercial Retail77₦5.82m₦5.82m59%1.9 yr
    Hospitality11₦2.75m₦2.75m83%1.4 yr
    Productive Use11₦3.83m₦3.83m61%1.6 yr

    Roof size band

    SegmentBuildings With generator Spend ₦/yr Cash saved yr 1 (B) Median IRR Median payback
    100 250m213,93111,727₦21.3bn₦21bn61%1.6 yr
    50 100m28,7717,646₦3.55bn₦3.54bn63%1.6 yr
    Under 30m25,1534,682₦385m₦383m61%1.6 yr
    250 1000m24,6464,032₦25.7bn₦24.7bn59%1.9 yr
    30 50m24,4523,993₦679m₦678m61%1.6 yr
    Over 1000m23635₦2.27bn₦2.24bn65%1.6 yr

    Settlement type

    SegmentBuildings With generator Spend ₦/yr Cash saved yr 1 (B) Median IRR Median payback
    Urban Centre14,2069,741₦12.1bn₦12bn37%2.9 yr
    Dense Urban10,09310,089₦16.8bn₦16.8bn67%1.6 yr
    Urban5,6335,590₦12.9bn₦12.3bn67%1.6 yr
    Unclassified4,3734,017₦6.19bn₦5.86bn57%1.9 yr
    Rural2,6842,678₦5.83bn₦5.58bn67%1.6 yr

    Lead segment

    SegmentBuildings With generator Spend ₦/yr Cash saved yr 1 (B) Median IRR Median payback
    Standard36,46231,667₦49.6bn₦48.4bn61%1.6 yr
    Enterprise484407₦3.94bn₦3.85bn53%1.9 yr
    SME High4341₦268m₦268m51%2.1 yr

    Demand tier

    SegmentBuildings With generator Spend ₦/yr Cash saved yr 1 (B) Median IRR Median payback
    3.012,10411,267₦42.3bn₦41.2bn
    2.011,71111,448₦8.28bn₦8.09bn
    0.05,6715,566₦350m₦350m
    4.05,6702,022₦2.12bn₦2.12bn
    1.01,8301,810₦735m₦721m
    5.032₦27.6m₦27.6m

    Nearby LGAs in Abia

    How these numbers are produced

    Approach A — energy value (upper bracket)

    Sizes the system to the building's full latent demand and values that energy at the mixed grid/generator tariff. It answers what the energy is worth — not what anyone currently pays.

    Approach B — cash saved (lower bracket)

    Sizes the system to demand that is actually served today, values it by merit order (solar displaces generator kWh first) and caps it at current spend. It answers what a building stops paying.

    Cohort: Viable rooftops (≥0.6 kWp potential).

    • Demand is modelled latent demand, not metered consumption.
    • Fuel is priced at ₦1,800/litre (operator-set). NBS reported ₦3,277/litre for May 2026 — on that basis every naira figure here is roughly 1.8× understated.
    • Generator ownership is a model output, not a survey result: it follows from the grid-availability scale and the 25% demand-suppression assumption.
    • Approach A prices energy nobody currently buys. Its savings must never be read as cash saved.
    • Demand is MODELLED LATENT demand, not metered consumption.
    • Generator ownership is model output, not survey.
    • Medians do not combine across groups — re-derive from the histograms.
    • Per-building files are float32 with 4 significant figures; cast to float64 before summing, because polars keeps Float32 sums in Float32.
    • Null scenario fields mean the roof cannot host 0.6 kWp, not zero savings.
    • `genset` was previously named `diesel` and now uses the segment's real fuel.
    • Ordering holds by construction: grid savings < mixed < genset.