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    Nigeria rooftop solar data

    Rooftop solar in Katsina State: buildings, spend and payback

    3,594,546 buildings in Katsina State carry a viable rooftop. Together they spend ₦1.7tn a year on grid power and generator fuel, and 80% of them run a generator.

    Viable buildings

    3,594,546

    Usable roof area

    138m m²

    30.7m kWp of roof capacity

    Current energy spend

    ₦1.7tn/yr

    1.58bn kWh/yr from generators

    Median payback

    1.6 yr

    Median IRR 69% (cash saved)

    The savings bracket for Katsina

    Approach B

    Cash saved

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

    Current energy spend₦1.7tn/yr
    Year-one cash saved₦1.57tn
    Lifetime cash saved₦67.1tn
    NPV₦11tn
    Median IRR69%
    Median payback1.6 yr
    Unlocked energy1.34bn kWh/yr
    Approach A

    Energy value (upper bracket)

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

    Installed capacity5.91m kWp
    Capex₦5.76tn
    Year-one energy value₦6.56tn
    Lifetime energy value₦305tn
    NPV₦53.3tn
    Median IRR141%
    Median payback0.6 yr

    Three ways to size Katsina State'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
    5.91m kWp
    Capital cost
    ₦5.76tn
    Year 1 savings
    ₦6.56tn/yr
    NPV
    ₦53.3tn
    Median IRR
    141%
    Median payback
    0.6 yr

    How many rooftops in Katsina State 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. 3,594,546 of 3,594,546 clear a positive NPV.

    Payback

    Under 3 years2,735,889 (76%)
    Under 5 years2,881,538 (80%)
    Under 7 years3,594,546 (100%)
    Under 10 years3,594,546 (100%)

    Return (IRR)

    Above 10%3,594,546 (100%)
    Above 15%3,594,546 (100%)
    Above 20%3,594,546 (100%)
    Above 25%2,854,163 (79%)

    What hardware costs right now

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

    Solar panels

    250

    ₦/W

    Inverters

    127,419

    ₦/kVA

    Batteries

    177,500

    ₦/kWh

    Where the opportunity sits

    Load profile

    SegmentBuildings With generator Spend ₦/yr Cash saved yr 1 (B) Median IRR Median payback
    Residential3,548,2302,845,142₦1.14tn₦1.12tn69%1.6 yr
    Commercial General15,53611,102₦76.2bn₦72.9bn43%2.6 yr
    Commercial Retail15,03010,511₦3.25bn₦3.25bn43%2.6 yr
    Anchor12,61510,052₦476bn₦379bn57%1.9 yr
    Worship2,6302,327₦2.1bn₦2.1bn59%1.9 yr
    Industrial350250₦431m₦430m47%2.4 yr
    Hospitality7650₦591m₦580m31%3.4 yr
    Filling Station3618₦57.1m₦57.1m27%3.1 yr
    Mall Retail3413₦114m₦114m27%4.1 yr
    Productive Use84₦15.1m₦15.1m29%3.4 yr
    Automotive11₦106k₦106k33%3.4 yr

    Roof size band

    SegmentBuildings With generator Spend ₦/yr Cash saved yr 1 (B) Median IRR Median payback
    Under 30m21,793,3801,525,165₦57.6bn₦57.2bn71%1.4 yr
    30 50m2795,280622,507₦74.1bn₦73.2bn71%1.4 yr
    50 100m2603,294435,123₦204bn₦202bn65%1.6 yr
    100 250m2292,502207,536₦317bn₦307bn59%1.9 yr
    250 1000m297,49079,517₦468bn₦458bn71%1.4 yr
    Over 1000m212,6009,622₦578bn₦478bn65%1.6 yr

    Settlement type

    SegmentBuildings With generator Spend ₦/yr Cash saved yr 1 (B) Median IRR Median payback
    Urban1,675,0411,567,832₦820bn₦764bn77%1.4 yr
    Unclassified707,194682,583₦356bn₦332bn73%1.4 yr
    Urban Centre498,261164,759₦182bn₦175bn21%5.1 yr
    Dense Urban442,175198,636₦173bn₦157bn21%5.1 yr
    Rural271,875265,660₦167bn₦147bn81%1.4 yr

    Lead segment

    SegmentBuildings With generator Spend ₦/yr Cash saved yr 1 (B) Median IRR Median payback
    Standard3,572,0992,862,892₦1.16tn₦1.14tn69%1.6 yr
    Enterprise12,67310,093₦476bn₦379bn57%1.9 yr
    SME High9,7746,485₦59.2bn₦56.6bn37%2.9 yr

    Demand tier

    SegmentBuildings With generator Spend ₦/yr Cash saved yr 1 (B) Median IRR Median payback
    0.01,965,1181,818,707₦71bn₦71bn
    2.0569,940403,551₦214bn₦210bn
    3.0481,713337,587₦937bn₦868bn
    1.0341,804241,768₦86.8bn₦85.7bn
    4.0232,25175,645₦349bn₦303bn
    5.03,0401,724₦24.2bn₦21.8bn
    6.0680488₦15.8bn₦15.3bn

    Local government areas in Katsina

    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.