What Can ₦5M of Solar Get You in Nigeria?
Short answer: an 8kVA inverter, 10.24kWh of lithium battery and 7 × 550W panels — ₦4,702,864 installed, which leaves about ₦297,136 of your ₦5M. It is built to carry a family's whole load, the borehole pump, and a 1.5HP air conditioner.
Computed from Nigerian equipment prices last checked September 2026 · quote SB-8K-B7OPIQ.
What ₦5M buys
₦4,702,864 is the realistic middle; the full range across Nigerian suppliers is ₦3.86M – ₦6.99M. The load it is sized for draws 6245W with everything on at once and uses 20.4kWh across a day, with about 4 hours of backup after dark. Components are mid class — Growatt, Luxpower, Must, Solis for the inverter, Felicity, Growatt, Dyness for the battery. That leaves ₦297,136 of your ₦5M: not nothing, but the next step up in this table costs more than that, so it is change rather than an upgrade.
Where every naira goes
Line by line, with model class and quantity, at Nigerian market prices last checked September 2026. Ask any installer for a quote in this shape — an itemised bill with brands and counts on it is the only thing that stops a cheaper component arriving on installation day.
| Item | Qty | Line cost | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hybrid inverter8kVA 48V hybrid — Growatt / Luxpower / Must / Solis | 1 unit | ₦1,000,000 | ₦800k – ₦1.6M |
| Lithium battery (LiFePO4)5.12kWh 48V 100Ah module · 10+ yr life — Felicity / Growatt / Dyness | 2 modules | ₦2,099,200 | ₦1.91M – ₦2.76M |
| Solar panels550W mono/bifacial — Jinko / JA Solar / Longi | 7 panels | ₦885,500 | ₦712k – ₦1.16M |
| Mounting, cables & protectionRails, DC/AC cable, breakers, surge protector, combiner, earthing, changeover | 1 lot | ₦478,164 | ₦274k – ₦994k |
| Installation & commissioningLagos / Abuja / PH roof-mount labour (transport outside city extra) | 1 lot | ₦240,000 | ₦160k – ₦480k |
| Installed total | ₦4,702,864 | ₦3.86M – ₦6.99M |
Equipment ₦3.43M – ₦5.52M · mounting, cables and protection ₦274k – ₦994k · labour ₦160k – ₦480k. Lagos, Abuja or Port Harcourt roof mount; transport outside those cities is extra.
What it will run
This system is sized for a family's whole load, the borehole pump, and a 1.5HP air conditioner — one representative list, not the only one. Swap like for like and the answer does not change; the numbers that matter are the 6245W peak and the 20.4kWh a day at the bottom of the table.
| Appliance | Watts each | Qty | Hours/day | kWh/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air Con (1.5HP) | 1200W | 1 | 4 | 4.8 |
| CCTV System | 50W | 1 | 24 | 1.2 |
| Ceiling Fan | 70W | 3 | 8 | 1.68 |
| DSTV/Decoder | 25W | 2 | 6 | 0.3 |
| Deep Freezer | 250W | 1 | 8 | 2 |
| Electric Iron | 1200W | 1 | 0.5 | 0.6 |
| Laptop | 65W | 2 | 8 | 1.04 |
| LED Bulb | 10W | 14 | 8 | 1.12 |
| Microwave | 1000W | 1 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Phone Charger | 15W | 4 | 4 | 0.24 |
| Refrigerator | 200W | 1 | 8 | 1.6 |
| Security Light | 30W | 1 | 12 | 0.36 |
| Standing Fan | 75W | 2 | 8 | 1.2 |
| TV (32") | 60W | 1 | 6 | 0.36 |
| TV (55"+) | 150W | 1 | 6 | 0.9 |
| Washing Machine | 600W | 1 | 1 | 0.6 |
| Water Pump | 750W | 1 | 2 | 1.5 |
| WiFi Router | 15W | 1 | 24 | 0.36 |
| Total | 6245W peak | 20.4 | ||
What it will not run
Checked against the same engine, surge included: a motor asks for several times its running watts in the first second, which is why an air conditioner that looks like it fits on paper still trips the inverter.
| Appliance | Running watts | On this system |
|---|---|---|
| Air Con (2HP) | 1800W | Only with other things switched off |
| Air Con (1HP) | 900W | Only with other things switched off |
| Desktop PC | 200W | Only with other things switched off |
It also will not carry the whole day on its own
7 × 550W panels make about 16.5kWh on an average Nigerian day, and this load uses 20.4kWh. The difference comes from the grid or the generator. That is what a system at this budget is: a machine for turning the hours you do get light into quiet, cheap hours you choose. Anyone promising you independence from NEPA for ₦5M is selling you something else.
Other ways to spend ₦5M
The same money, arranged differently. Where a row costs more than your budget, that gap is the honest price of the upgrade — not a reason to squeeze it in by cutting the panels or the wiring.
The same load, built as cheaply as possible
- Inverter
- 8kVA
- Battery
- 19.2kWh tubular (lead-acid)
- Panels
- 7 × 550W
One step more load
- Inverter
- 10kVA
- Battery
- 28.8kWh tubular (lead-acid)
- Panels
- 10 × 550W
Questions people ask about this budget
I have ₦5M set aside for solar. Kindly advise me if this is feasible.
Yes, at September 2026 Nigerian prices. ₦5M buys an 8kVA inverter, 10.24kWh of lithium battery and 7 × 550W panels — ₦4,702,864 installed as a realistic middle estimate, with the whole range running ₦3.86M – ₦6.99M. That build is designed to carry a family's whole load, the borehole pump, and a 1.5HP air conditioner, with about 4 hours of backup once the sun is down.
What will ₦5M of solar not run?
Of the heavy loads we check, these are the ones this build will not carry alongside everything else: Air Con (2HP), Air Con (1HP), Desktop PC. Separately, the array makes about 16.5kWh on an average Nigerian day against 20.4kWh of daily load, so the shortfall comes from the grid or a generator. A build at this budget supplements NEPA; it does not replace it.
How many batteries and panels is that?
2 × LiFePO4 modules (10.24kWh installed) and 7 × 550W panels, 3.85kWp of array. Count 7 panels onto one unshaded roof plane before you commit — each is a little over 2m long.
Are these prices real, and when were they checked?
Every figure on this page is computed from one table of Nigerian market prices, last checked September 2026, using the same engine as our calculator. We publish a low, a middle and a high for each line rather than one number: the low is the Alaba/wholesale floor, the high is showroom retail, and real installs land between them. Prices move, so treat the date as part of the answer.
Your house is not the house on this page
This page starts from a budget and works backwards to a system. The calculator runs the other way: tick what you actually own, and it returns the inverter, battery, panel count and price for that exact list. Do both and you will know whether your money and your load meet in the middle.