Solar Panels Move From Alaba Market To Wedding Registries As Nigeria’s Grid Struggles

Solar panels, inverters and lithium batteries are now competing for space with generators, televisions and refrigerators in Lagos’ Alaba International Market, West Africa’s largest electronics bazaar. The shift is visible across Nigeria: by the end of last year, small-scale solar power comfortably exceeded what the national grid delivers. This year, Nigeria has already added as much solar capacity as it did in 2024 and 2025 combined.

Alaba’s Solar Boom

Six days a week, merchants and customers pack the narrow streets of Alaba. Brands like Deye and Felicity Solar are everywhere, alongside counterfeits in copycat packaging with names like Fidelity or Facility. Nnamdi Nkemka, owner of CNN Global Solar, said even tomato sellers now put up signs saying they collect solar batteries and all kinds of solar waste. When his shop opened in 2008, it was one of a handful of specialized dealers down an alley. Now it is among more than 200 solar shops, sits on the main street and has an adjoining warehouse. ‘Most people selling electrical items are migrating to solar,’ Nkemka said.

Costs, Loans And Generators

High fossil-fuel prices and affordable Chinese-made solar technologies are accelerating the shift away from generators, pushing consumers toward renewable energy whether they care about climate change or not. Solar panels, batteries and inverters are turning up on wedding registries alongside bed linen and microwaves. Families now monitor how much solar energy their panels generate and their battery-charge levels. In rural areas, solar mini-grids that power whole communities are starting to emerge.

But high upfront costs are limiting growth, said Cletus Ike Amakeze, chief executive officer of Ama Solar Ltd., who has sold solar products for a decade. BloombergNEF research shows equipment to keep a three-person home running will pay for itself in as little as 16 months. But setting up costs about $4,500, roughly seven times as much as buying a new gasoline generator. Fuel for the generator costs about $200 a month.

Outside a bank in Oniru, a massive billboard advertises loans for home solar technology. Most Nigerian lenders offer similar loans. At borrowing rates of about 27% to 36%, they are out of reach for most households. Nelson Nsitem, a BNEF Africa analyst in London, said the bulk of the roughly $8.5 billion spent on small-scale solar across sub-Saharan Africa last year was paid upfront in cash.

Flexibility And The Grid

Lande Abudu, an independent energy consultant in Abuja, said solar offers flexibility. ‘You can always build with solar and scale up,’ she said. Buyers can add capacity according to their means. Nsitem called solar ‘the obvious choice’ for consumers. ‘As the U.S.-Iran war pushed up global fuel prices, the cost of operating these generators has risen, making solar systems much more attractive overnight,’ he said.

At Amakeze’s shop in Alaba on a Tuesday morning, a retailer in a black button-down shirt and dress shoes was picking stock for Asaba. A mother wanted a package for her university-age daughter: light bulbs and a fan, with a TV possibly later. Olojo Drive still has a few generator shops, but most are further inside, with solar tech dominating the main drag. Generator brands such as Sumec Firman, Mikano and Jubaili Bros Nigeria have expanded into solar.

Some households still need alternative power if installed solar capacity is lower than their load, especially for air conditioners. Some buy hybrid inverters to toggle between solar, a generator and the grid. That flexibility is reducing reliance on the grid, which in 2024 tripled tariffs for high-usage households to shore up the power sector’s finances. Residential customers account for only about 20% of supply at Eko Electricity Distribution Co., one of two distributors serving Lagos, according to Kolapo Joseph, group managing director of majority shareholder Transgrid Enerco.

Lanre Shasore, a senior advisor at Sustainable Energy for All, said people are creating systems where they can switch in and out. More accessible finance may change things, she said, but for now some who can afford it are ‘fuel stacking,’ holding on to generators even as they buy into solar. Nigeria’s crude oil exports account for more than two-thirds of export earnings, but the country had virtually no refining capacity until recently. When the fuel subsidy was scrapped in May 2023, the price spike was immediate and sweeping.