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    Lagos State

    Rooftop solar in Ikorodu, Lagos: what the roofs are worth

    Ikorodu has 497,934 buildings with a viable rooftop and 10.9m kWp of roof capacity. 64% run a generator, and together they spend ₦396bn a year on energy.

    Viable buildings

    497,934

    Usable roof area

    48.3m m²

    10.9m kWp roof capacity

    Energy spend

    ₦396bn/yr

    324m kWh/yr burned on generators

    Median payback

    4.1 yr

    Median IRR 27% (cash saved)

    The savings bracket for Ikorodu

    Approach B

    Cash saved

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

    Current energy spend₦396bn/yr
    Year-one cash saved₦369bn
    Lifetime cash saved₦15.9tn
    NPV₦2.24tn
    Median IRR27%
    Median payback4.1 yr
    Unlocked energy387m kWh/yr
    Approach A

    Energy value (upper bracket)

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

    Installed capacity1.63m kWp
    Capex₦1.56tn
    Year-one energy value₦931bn
    Lifetime energy value₦42.7tn
    NPV₦6.69tn
    Median IRR63%
    Median payback1.6 yr

    Three ways to size Ikorodu'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
    1.63m kWp
    Capital cost
    ₦1.56tn
    Year 1 savings
    ₦931bn/yr
    NPV
    ₦6.69tn
    Median IRR
    63%
    Median payback
    1.6 yr

    How many rooftops in Ikorodu 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. 497,934 of 497,934 clear a positive NPV.

    Payback

    Under 3 years176,394 (35%)
    Under 5 years283,973 (57%)
    Under 7 years497,934 (100%)
    Under 10 years497,934 (100%)

    Return (IRR)

    Above 10%497,934 (100%)
    Above 15%497,934 (100%)
    Above 20%298,342 (60%)
    Above 25%259,588 (52%)
    CO₂ avoided

    736m kg/yr

    Fuel avoided

    166m L/yr

    Energy unlocked

    387m kWh/yr

    Demand that is suppressed today

    People served

    928k

    What hardware costs right now

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

    Solar panels

    250

    ₦/W

    Inverters

    127,419

    ₦/kVA

    Batteries

    177,500

    ₦/kWh

    Building mix in Ikorodu

    Load profile

    SegmentBuildings With generator Spend ₦/yr Cash saved yr 1 (B) Median IRR Median payback
    Residential483,081308,762₦266bn₦256bn27%4.1 yr
    Commercial General5,8113,372₦32.4bn₦28.8bn25%4.4 yr
    Anchor3,5502,046₦77.5bn₦66.6bn31%3.6 yr
    Commercial Retail2,7151,448₦1.43bn₦1.43bn27%4.1 yr
    Industrial1,362892₦16.2bn₦13bn33%3.4 yr
    Worship810416₦553m₦553m25%4.6 yr
    Hospitality294160₦1.44bn₦1.32bn23%4.6 yr
    Filling Station14162₦232m₦231m23%4.9 yr
    Mall Retail8754₦219m₦213m25%4.1 yr
    Productive Use6632₦80.6m₦80.6m23%4.9 yr
    Automotive176₦27.4m₦27.4m19%5.6 yr

    Roof size band

    SegmentBuildings With generator Spend ₦/yr Cash saved yr 1 (B) Median IRR Median payback
    100 250m2173,563113,051₦141bn₦137bn27%4.1 yr
    Under 30m2117,00472,136₦6.48bn₦6.35bn25%4.4 yr
    50 100m295,38760,397₦23.4bn₦22.3bn27%4.1 yr
    30 50m261,87439,018₦6.75bn₦6.68bn27%4.1 yr
    250 1000m249,32532,111₦123bn₦118bn27%4.1 yr
    Over 1000m2781537₦95bn₦78.7bn31%3.6 yr

    Settlement type

    SegmentBuildings With generator Spend ₦/yr Cash saved yr 1 (B) Median IRR Median payback
    Urban Centre452,367281,727₦349bn₦325bn25%4.4 yr
    Urban19,68817,759₦19.2bn₦19.2bn47%2.4 yr
    Unclassified15,71311,160₦23.5bn₦20.2bn35%3.1 yr
    Dense Urban10,1666,604₦4.23bn₦4.2bn25%4.4 yr

    Lead segment

    SegmentBuildings With generator Spend ₦/yr Cash saved yr 1 (B) Median IRR Median payback
    Standard489,997312,571₦280bn₦269bn27%4.1 yr
    Enterprise4,6212,812₦93bn₦78.9bn31%3.4 yr
    SME High3,3161,867₦23.2bn₦20.5bn25%4.1 yr

    Demand tier

    SegmentBuildings With generator Spend ₦/yr Cash saved yr 1 (B) Median IRR Median payback
    4.0280,370168,093₦212bn₦202bn
    3.0108,25675,676₦139bn₦128bn
    2.058,04538,036₦13.1bn₦12.3bn
    0.036,35626,463₦3.42bn₦3.42bn
    1.012,9377,824₦1.02bn₦1.02bn
    5.01,595952₦8.09bn₦7.96bn
    6.0375206₦18.7bn₦14.1bn

    Nearby LGAs in Lagos

    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.