How to Start Solar Energy Business in Nigeria

In this article, you will learn how to start a solar installation business or solar energy business in Nigeria. In the article, I will also be covering if the solar energy business is profitable and capital needed or the cost of starting a solar energy business in Nigeria.

Solar energy business is now becoming a lucrative business in Nigeria because of the continuous power epilepsy and the availability of relatively cheap solar energy materials. Asides from this, it is also a profitable business because of the climate of Nigeria.

Due to the incessant heat during the dry season, many homes are now installing solar panels and inverters just to keep their homes cool, especially during the day. Solar energy does not necessarily need power (NEPA) to deliver 24 hours every day.

This is another reason why many Nigerians are now opting for it in order to meet up with their electricity demands. If you are considering going into solar installation or solar energy business in Nigeria, now will be the perfect time for you as the power supply goes worse each day. All you need is persistence and capital to jump-start.

What is Solar Energy?

Solar energy or solar power is the conversion of the sun’s rays into renewable energy (electricity) for public or private consumption. Depending on the capability of the solar panels, inverter, and batteries, solar energy can provide unlimited electricity.

Solar energy provides the cleanest form of energy. The power it generates does not harm the environment.

Is Solar Energy Business Profitable?

It is very obvious that the solar energy business in Nigeria is a profitable business due to the inconsistent power epilepsy. At first, the demand was not high due to the high cost of solar energy equipment and tools but now Nigerians are desperate. There are desperate because they need 24 hours power supply to power their homes and offices.

Another reason why the solar energy business is profitable in Nigeria is because of the majority of customers or clients that patronize the business. In Nigeria, most high-income earners and middle income-earners are mostly the customers that patronize solar energy companies.

The solar energy business is broad and there are many parts of the business you can go into, especially as a newbie. I will explain more about this as we move on in this article.

Capital Needed to Start Solar Energy Business

The cost of starting a solar energy business in Nigeria is not high. This is because the solar installation business is a service business. What you just need is the equipment for making inverters and installing solar panels. The other things you need can be incurred by your clients when you start the business properly.

The capital needed to start a solar energy business in Nigeria is about #500,000 – #1,000,000. This capital will be used to register your solar energy company, buy equipment needed to construct inverters, and used to promote the business.

How to Start Solar Energy Business in Nigeria

Here are the steps on how to start a solar energy business in Nigeria.

1. Write a Business Plan

The first step to starting a solar energy business in Nigeria is to write a solar energy business plan. Business plans are very important, especially in the world of today. You cannot afford to go into any business blindly because of too much risk involved in businesses today.

Even if the risk in a business is not much, what about the time wasted? We all know we can always recover any money we invest in a business. However, we cannot recover the time we have invested. This is one reason you need a business plan for this business.

You can always write your solar energy business plan by yourself by following our step-by-step guide on how to write a business plan in Nigeria. Or you can hire us to write the business plan for you at a discounted rate. Read our article for more guidance on how to write a business plan in Nigeria.

2. Get your Required Capital

Capital is very important in any business except you already have everything needed to start the business. You need capital to successfully start your solar power business in Nigeria. As I said earlier, this capital will cover many aspects of the business.

It will cover the purchasing of tools or equipment, registration of the solar energy company, promotion, office rent, and more. You can always source this money from your family and friends to complete your capital if you do not have enough money. Do not borrow money to start this business as it might put too much pressure on you.

Follow our guide on how to start a business in Nigeria with no capital if you do not have money set aside for this business.

3. Learn Solar Energy Installations

In my article on lucrative handwork to learn in Nigeria, I talked about the solar installation business as a handwork. This is very correct. You need to learn how to build inverters, connect batteries and arrange solar panels before you can be called a solar energy company.

To learn how to make solar inverters you need to become an apprentice in a solar energy company. It is at the company you will learn everything you need to know about solar energy. After you are done, you will be issued a certificate that you are now a professional.

It is at this point you can now successfully start your own solar energy company in Nigeria.

4. Register your Solar Energy Company

The registration of your solar energy business into a company is vital. This is to make sure your business is treated as a separate entity. When you register your company it also makes it easier for other companies to patronize you.

To register your solar energy company you will need a business name, company logo, address of your company, services you want your solar energy company to be offering and other information will also be needed. So watch out. The registration of your solar energy business will take up to 1 – 2 weeks max because all the registrations are done online, it is fast. Read our guide on how to get funding for your business in Nigeria.

5. Promoting your Solar Business

Promotion is very important in your solar energy business, especially for the first few years of the business in existence. You need to create awareness through advertising. These advertisements can be online (digital marketing) or it can be offline through handbills and posters.

However, it is cheaper to run ads for your solar business online in Nigeria. It is not a must for you to create awareness for the installation of solar energy. As I said earlier, there are other services like repair of inverters, changing of solar panels, sales of solar panels or inverters, and more you can render.

6. Start Rendering your Services

The services rendered at a solar energy business are many. For this reason, it is not mandatory that all your clients must want solar power Installation. You just need to know the wants and needs of all your customers and start fulfilling them. If you start with this you will start making money as soon as possible from your solar energy business.

As time goes by customers will also start trusting you with solar installations and as your customer base increases so will be more patronage, especially from companies.

7. Profits in Solar Energy Business

It is not hard to make profits from the solar energy business in Nigeria but it can be hard to build your customer base within the first 3 years. So the first step to making money from solar energy in Nigeria is to know the kind of customers for your business (which are middle-income earners and high-income earners). The next step you can take to increase profits in your business is to diversify the business.

I mentioned this at the beginning of the article. The other way you can increase profits in your solar energy business is to partner with other solar energy companies on big projects. For example, a solar energy company can be given a community project and they might not have enough staff, you can partner with this solar energy company to make fast profits.

Conclusion 

The need for solar energy also known as clean energy in Nigeria cannot be underestimated. As long as there is power epilepsy in Nigeria you will continue to make money. The best part about this lucrative business is that it is not also hard to learn, the capital needed to start is not much too.

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