Solar System Sizing Guide for Nigerian Homes (With Examples)

Step 1: Add Up Your Daily Load

Start with the appliances you actually run. Example: a 2-bedroom home with 10 LED bulbs (60W total), a 100L fridge (about 150W running), a 43-inch TV (70W) and phone charging (30W) uses roughly 300W when everything is on, and about 1.5–2 kWh of energy per evening.

As a rule of thumb for Nigeria: a 1kWh daily budget covers lighting, phone charging and a fan; 2kWh covers that plus a fridge; 3kWh+ covers a fridge, TV and occasional cooking or ironing.

Step 2: Size the Battery Bank

Your battery must store the night’s load plus a safety margin. For a 2kWh evening load, use a 200Ah 12V (or 100Ah 24V) battery – about 2.4kWh of usable capacity – to cover blackouts until morning without deep discharge.

Lithium batteries give more usable capacity per weight and last 3–5x longer than lead-acid, but cost about double upfront. For most homes, a good tubular lead-acid is the value choice; lithium suits those who can invest for the long term.

Step 3: Match the Solar Panels

In sunny Nigeria, 1kW of panels generates about 4–5kWh per day. To recharge a 2.4kWh battery bank fully in one sunny day, 600W–800W of panels is comfortable (e.g. 4 × 200W). Add 20% extra if you want headroom for cloudy-season days.

Finally, size the inverter at least 20% above your peak load – a 300W peak load comfortably runs on a 500W inverter, and a 1kW pure-sine inverter covers most homes plus a small fridge.

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