Cracking the Renewal Energy Potential in Nigeria: Solar Energy in Perspective
Omame Onyebuchy Bernard; Ufomba Emmanuel C; Eke Uzoma Ronald & Efobi Daniel. I
Scientific Equipment Development Institute, Enugu Nigeria
Email: buchydifference@yahoo.com; ecufomba@yahoo.com;
uzotido@yahoo.com & danfobis@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
The supply and demand of energy determine the course of global development in every sphere of human activity. Solar radiation from the Sun is capable of producing heat, causing chemical reactions, or generating electricity. The Sun is an extremely powerful energy source, and sunlight is by far the largest source of energy received by the Earth, but its intensity at the Earth’s surface is actually quite low. The sunlight that reaches the ground consists of nearly 50 percent visible light, 45 percent infrared radiation, and smaller amounts of ultraviolet and other forms of electromagnetic radiation. This radiation can be converted either into thermal energy (heat) or into electrical energy. Two main types of devices are used to capture solar energy and convert it to thermal energy: flat-plate collectors and concentrating collectors. Solar radiation may be converted directly into electricity by solar cells (photovoltaic cells). Sunlight provides by far the largest of all carbon-neutral energy sources. More energy from sunlight strikes the Earth in one hour (4.3 × 1020 J) than all the energy consumed on the planet in a year (4.1 × 1020 J). Yet, in Nigeria, solar radiation provided less than 0.1% of the country’s energy needs. The importance of this pervasive problem and the perplexing technical difficulty of solving it require a concerted national effort marshalling our most advanced scientific and technological capabilities. All routes for utilizing solar energy exploit the functional steps of capture, conversion, and storage. This research work on Solar Energy Utilization in Nigeria identifies the key scientific challenges and research directions that will enable efficient and economic use of the solar resource to provide a significant fraction of primary energy in the country by the mid 21st century.
Key words: Radiation, Technology, Renewal, Application, Solar, Thermal.
