An expert in the generation, installation and maintenance of solar energy, as an alternative to the poor electricity supply in Nigeria, has said that solar energy was better and preferable to using fuel to power generators for domestic uses.

Sunday Agbadah, the Consultant at Ase Sunek Ltd in Asaba, the Delta State capital, said the application of solar energy in homes and offices would save Nigerians from unnecessary spending and make power supply available in homes through the use of inverters to preserve power for use when necessary.

Agbadah was speaking at a graduation ceremony for 20 Delta unemployed graduates who were sponsored by the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) under the Solar Energy Training Scheme in Delta State.

Agbadah said the training which ran for three and half months had prepared the unemployed graduates from various disciplines for business opportunities that could catapult them to becoming great Nigerians if the knowledge they acquired could be employed to salvage their situations.

According to him, “Nigeria today is witnessing slow progress in power generation with the total generation not adequate for the Nigerian economy. This situation coupled with the explosive population of over 160 million that need constant supply of energy to be progressive and productive in the present day society”.

He said solar energy training equips unemployed graduates with skills for energy harvest, installation, and maintenance of solar power facilities for sustainable self reliance and to improve electricity power generation for economic development in Nigeria.

He said “as traditional sources of energy become scarcer, it is only rational for us to look upward to the sun, for an alternative source of energy. The sun is largely responsible for almost all our conventional energy sources and has been fully accepted as a safe, efficient and environmentally friendly energy source.

 “The time has therefore come for all of us to become more aware of the direct contribution solar energy can make to our lives and our country. The energy supply from the sun is truly enormous, inexhaustible and the only energy source which is non-polluting and can be utilized economically to supply man’s energy needs for all time”.

Though Agbadah explained the various benefits accruable from using the solar energy, he said the cost implication could scare the average Nigerian from the venture as most of the items for the design of the solar panel are imported from outside the country.

The 20 graduates were trained in the design, procurement, installation and maintenance of solar energy equipment for the harvesting of solar energy for electricity generation for all uses.