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    Akwa Ibom State

    Rooftop solar in Obot Akara, Akwa Ibom: what the roofs are worth

    Obot Akara has 31,917 buildings with a viable rooftop and 666k kWp of roof capacity. 100% run a generator, and together they spend ₦36.5bn a year on energy.

    Viable buildings

    31,917

    Usable roof area

    2.97m m²

    666k kWp roof capacity

    Energy spend

    ₦36.5bn/yr

    33.1m kWh/yr burned on generators

    Median payback

    1.6 yr

    Median IRR 63% (cash saved)

    The savings bracket for Obot Akara

    Approach B

    Cash saved

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

    Current energy spend₦36.5bn/yr
    Year-one cash saved₦36bn
    Lifetime cash saved₦1.52tn
    NPV₦246bn
    Median IRR63%
    Median payback1.6 yr
    Unlocked energy29.6m kWh/yr
    Approach A

    Energy value (upper bracket)

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

    Installed capacity190k kWp
    Capex₦183bn
    Year-one energy value₦183bn
    Lifetime energy value₦8.64tn
    NPV₦1.48tn
    Median IRR109%
    Median payback0.9 yr

    Three ways to size Obot Akara'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
    190k kWp
    Capital cost
    ₦183bn
    Year 1 savings
    ₦183bn/yr
    NPV
    ₦1.48tn
    Median IRR
    109%
    Median payback
    0.9 yr

    How many rooftops in Obot Akara 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. 31,917 of 31,917 clear a positive NPV.

    Payback

    Under 3 years31,770 (100%)
    Under 5 years31,917 (100%)
    Under 7 years31,917 (100%)
    Under 10 years31,917 (100%)

    Return (IRR)

    Above 10%31,917 (100%)
    Above 15%31,917 (100%)
    Above 20%31,917 (100%)
    Above 25%31,917 (100%)
    CO₂ avoided

    66m kg/yr

    Fuel avoided

    21.3m L/yr

    Energy unlocked

    29.6m kWh/yr

    Demand that is suppressed today

    People served

    262k

    What hardware costs right now

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

    Solar panels

    250

    ₦/W

    Inverters

    127,419

    ₦/kVA

    Batteries

    177,500

    ₦/kWh

    Building mix in Obot Akara

    Load profile

    SegmentBuildings With generator Spend ₦/yr Cash saved yr 1 (B) Median IRR Median payback
    Residential31,14531,145₦33bn₦32.6bn63%1.6 yr
    Worship335335₦546m₦546m55%1.9 yr
    Anchor208208₦1.79bn₦1.79bn75%1.4 yr
    Commercial General184184₦1.01bn₦1.01bn51%2.1 yr
    Industrial4343₦82.1m₦80.5m61%1.6 yr
    Commercial Retail11₦166k₦166k55%1.9 yr
    Mall Retail11₦5.55m₦5.55m57%1.9 yr

    Roof size band

    SegmentBuildings With generator Spend ₦/yr Cash saved yr 1 (B) Median IRR Median payback
    100 250m211,21211,212₦18bn₦17.6bn63%1.6 yr
    50 100m28,2548,254₦3.36bn₦3.35bn63%1.6 yr
    Under 30m25,7575,757₦298m₦298m63%1.6 yr
    30 50m24,1714,171₦487m₦485m63%1.6 yr
    250 1000m22,4972,497₦13.5bn₦13.5bn65%1.6 yr
    Over 1000m22626₦824m₦824m65%1.6 yr

    Settlement type

    SegmentBuildings With generator Spend ₦/yr Cash saved yr 1 (B) Median IRR Median payback
    Urban18,89618,896₦22.7bn₦22.7bn63%1.6 yr
    Dense Urban6,1876,187₦6.63bn₦6.63bn63%1.6 yr
    Unclassified4,0674,067₦4.53bn₦4.14bn61%1.6 yr
    Urban Centre2,7672,767₦2.56bn₦2.56bn65%1.6 yr

    Lead segment

    SegmentBuildings With generator Spend ₦/yr Cash saved yr 1 (B) Median IRR Median payback
    Standard31,66431,664₦34.5bn₦34.1bn63%1.6 yr
    Enterprise248248₦1.87bn₦1.87bn73%1.4 yr
    SME High55₦76.6m₦76.6m59%1.9 yr

    Demand tier

    SegmentBuildings With generator Spend ₦/yr Cash saved yr 1 (B) Median IRR Median payback
    2.012,76012,760₦10.3bn₦9.92bn
    3.08,3188,318₦24.8bn₦24.8bn
    0.08,1908,190₦391m₦391m
    1.02,6442,644₦867m₦866m
    4.055₦75.8m₦75.8m

    Nearby LGAs in Akwa Ibom

    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.