Analyses of the Motivating Factors and Barriers to the Adoption of Solar Photovoltaic Power Technology in Nigeria: A Survey

Abstract

For a long time till date there has been mismatch in the Nigeria’s electricity supply to its continuously growing demand. The pervasively epileptic nature of the electricity supply from the centralized grid has made many Nigerians opt for fossil fuel generators which come with consequences of air and noise pollution. To curb this menace, there is need for the country to drastically transit towards the adoption of renewable energy (RE). However, Solar Photovoltaic (PV) technology adoption is still poor despite being proven by research works to be a viable alternative source of electricity supply in Nigeria. Therefore, this research work aimed at investigating the barring factors to the adoption of the technology. It also studied the motivating factor among the few adopters of the technology. A survey was carried out through the use of online questionnaire to sample respondents’ opinion across Nigeria. The results showed that the level of adoption of the technology is low. The result as well showed that the few adopters are motivated with the features of the technology such as convenience, reliability and eco friendliness. On the other hand, over 90% of those who do not adopt the technology considered the high cost of installation as the major barrier. This work has laid down a pathway for stakeholders and researchers to develop strategies in improving solar photovoltaic adoption in Nigeria. Areas of future work will require the determination of why other barrier factors seems to be less significant as compared to cost of installation.