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    Sokoto State

    Rooftop solar in Sokoto North, Sokoto: what the roofs are worth

    Sokoto North has 80,897 buildings with a viable rooftop and 968k kWp of roof capacity. 14% run a generator, and together they spend ₦10.1bn a year on energy.

    Viable buildings

    80,897

    Usable roof area

    4.34m m²

    968k kWp roof capacity

    Energy spend

    ₦10.1bn/yr

    6.5m kWh/yr burned on generators

    Median payback

    5.4 yr

    Median IRR 21% (cash saved)

    The savings bracket for Sokoto North

    Approach B

    Cash saved

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

    Current energy spend₦10.1bn/yr
    Year-one cash saved₦10bn
    Lifetime cash saved₦417bn
    NPV₦54.1bn
    Median IRR21%
    Median payback5.4 yr
    Unlocked energy17.9m kWh/yr
    Approach A

    Energy value (upper bracket)

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

    Installed capacity93.7k kWp
    Capex₦88.1bn
    Year-one energy value₦68.9bn
    Lifetime energy value₦3.19tn
    NPV₦530bn
    Median IRR89%
    Median payback1.1 yr

    Three ways to size Sokoto North'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
    93.7k kWp
    Capital cost
    ₦88.1bn
    Year 1 savings
    ₦68.9bn/yr
    NPV
    ₦530bn
    Median IRR
    89%
    Median payback
    1.1 yr

    How many rooftops in Sokoto North 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. 80,897 of 80,897 clear a positive NPV.

    Payback

    Under 3 years6,270 (8%)
    Under 5 years13,775 (17%)
    Under 7 years80,897 (100%)
    Under 10 years80,897 (100%)

    Return (IRR)

    Above 10%80,897 (100%)
    Above 15%80,897 (100%)
    Above 20%80,737 (100%)
    Above 25%10,929 (14%)
    CO₂ avoided

    24.2m kg/yr

    Fuel avoided

    3.05m L/yr

    Energy unlocked

    17.9m kWh/yr

    Demand that is suppressed today

    People served

    107k

    What hardware costs right now

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

    Solar panels

    250

    ₦/W

    Inverters

    127,419

    ₦/kVA

    Batteries

    177,500

    ₦/kWh

    Building mix in Sokoto North

    Load profile

    SegmentBuildings With generator Spend ₦/yr Cash saved yr 1 (B) Median IRR Median payback
    Residential78,05811,266₦5.5bn₦5.42bn21%5.4 yr
    Commercial Retail1,318113₦86.3m₦86.3m25%4.4 yr
    Commercial General1,299273₦2.92bn₦2.9bn25%4.4 yr
    Anchor16743₦1.49bn₦1.45bn35%3.1 yr
    Worship278₦5.9m₦5.9m25%4.4 yr
    Hospitality137₦88.4m₦88.4m25%4.4 yr
    Industrial60₦2.13m₦2.13m27%3.9 yr
    Mall Retail51₦36m₦36m25%4.4 yr
    Filling Station20₦990k₦990k25%4.4 yr
    Productive Use21₦239k₦239k25%3.6 yr

    Roof size band

    SegmentBuildings With generator Spend ₦/yr Cash saved yr 1 (B) Median IRR Median payback
    Under 30m228,2634,006₦336m₦303m21%5.4 yr
    50 100m221,5352,864₦834m₦834m21%5.4 yr
    30 50m215,8702,108₦307m₦305m21%5.4 yr
    100 250m212,5422,017₦2.47bn₦2.43bn21%5.4 yr
    250 1000m22,610665₦3.8bn₦3.76bn21%5.4 yr
    Over 1000m27752₦2.38bn₦2.36bn41%2.6 yr

    Settlement type

    SegmentBuildings With generator Spend ₦/yr Cash saved yr 1 (B) Median IRR Median payback
    Urban Centre80,18111,520₦9.77bn₦9.68bn21%5.4 yr
    Unclassified670186₦339m₦305m21%5.4 yr
    Urban466₦10.6m₦10.6m21%5.4 yr

    Lead segment

    SegmentBuildings With generator Spend ₦/yr Cash saved yr 1 (B) Median IRR Median payback
    Standard79,61211,450₦6.16bn₦6.08bn21%5.4 yr
    SME High1,114219₦2.47bn₦2.46bn25%4.4 yr
    Enterprise17143₦1.49bn₦1.45bn35%3.1 yr

    Demand tier

    SegmentBuildings With generator Spend ₦/yr Cash saved yr 1 (B) Median IRR Median payback
    3.024,1913,790₦3.23bn₦3.17bn
    4.020,5942,678₦4.7bn₦4.64bn
    2.014,8962,301₦315m₦314m
    0.010,9151,639₦109m₦109m
    1.09,5901,171₦152m₦152m
    5.0662119₦1.21bn₦1.2bn
    6.04914₦406m₦406m

    Nearby LGAs in Sokoto

    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.