Politically speaking, renewable energy is trending worldwide as a means of transition from non-renewable to renewable sources of energy due to the effect of climate change. The world is discouraging the use of fossil fuel, coal et al as sources of electricity generation. Sources of renewable energy include hydropower, wind power, biomass, and solar. Solar renewable energy requires the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power.

Solar energy made its first landmark in 1839 when Edmond Becquerel discovered the photovoltaic (PV) effect, to become the “father of solar energy” and later in 1884, Charles Fritts managed to produce the photovoltaic effect with a layer of selenium covered with a thin film of gold that became the origin of today’s solar panels.

As at 2022, China is the largest producer of solar energy in the world with a huge installation of 392 GW solar energy.

It is true that one of the shortcomings of solar power is the high initial cost of installation, which has slowed down the rate of transition in Nigeria as most of the components used in this system like solar panels and deep-cycle batteries are imported.  

It will be recalled that in the recent past, there was a battery manufacturing factory located in Ibadan, Oyo state that was producing Exide car batteries before it went moribund.

Since solar energy can be stored in batteries during the day, the Oyo state government should revamp the factory to restart he production of not only car batteries but deep-cycle batteries for use by owners of solar electricity sources.

This will reduce the initial cost of solar renewable energy, create employment for Nigerians and generate additional revenue for government thereby improving the quality of life of Nigerians.