Many rooftop installations of solar panels are unsafe, risky

The Executive Secretary, National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Idris Bugaje, says installation of solar panels on rooftops can be unsafe and endanger life and property.

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Mr Bugaje raised alarm in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja

According to him, many rooftop solar panel installations across the country are being carried out without adherence to safety and engineering standards.

“The installations that are going on across the country on rooftops are very unprofessional and they are risks to fire.

“During the peak of solar radiation, the current flowing in the wires is maximum. It’s at its highest peak.

“If the current is too high, the wires will become heated. They will heat up due to the resistance.

“As the electrons flow, they face resistance within that wires and they will heat up to the extent that some of them can even melt.

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“If the two spark, it can ignore fire. Many fires have happened because of that,” he said.

He also faulted the common practice of mounting solar panels at steep angles matching rooftop designs, saying most roofs are sloped at 60 to 70 degrees, which significantly reduces solar collection efficiency.

For optimum energy generation, he said panels should be mounted at about 10 degrees facing south to match Nigeria’s geographic position, especially in places like Abuja.

Speaking on the importance of renewable energy, Bugaje said for the country to industrialise, it must target close to 500 watts per capita of its energy.

He said that the technical education sector is stepping up efforts to address these gaps through structured training.

Mr Bugaje explained that the National Diploma in Renewable Energy Engineering had been reviewed, and two new Higher National Diploma (HND) programmes in photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal engineering had been introduced.

He further said that short-term certifications under the Nigerian Skills Qualification Framework(NSQF) were being offered to equip installers with professional expertise.

“Renewable energy is important to Nigeria because of the present energy poverty that we are facing in the country,

“A population of 230 million people enjoying 5,000 megawatts. If you divide the megawatts by the population, it is decimally low.

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“Nigeria cannot industrialise with this low energy availability. Many countries that are peers of Nigeria, like South Africa, have higher watts per capita,” he said

Mr Bugaje expressed worry over the underutilised solar potential in the county.

He, therefore, called on state governments to take advantage of recent constitutional changes that allow states to generate and distribute electricity independently.

(NAN)