ABSTRACT
Solar Energy is the energy from the Sun. The Sun is a big ball of heat and light resulting from nuclear fusion at its core. In one day, the sun sends 10,000 to 15,000 times more energy to the earth than we can all collectively use (Msafiri 66, 2009). Solar power is the conversion of sunlight into Electricity, either directly or using Photovoltaic panels, a method of generating electricity by converting the suns radiation into direct current electricity using semi conductors. Nigeria envisions transforming itself into a newly-industrializing, middle-income country by 2030, with a globally competitive and prosperous economy and high quality of life in a clean and secure environment. To achieve this vision, energy is identified as one of the foundations and enablers of the socio-economic transformation envisaged in the country. Only 44% of Nigerians have access to Grid Electricity meaning Solar energy provides Nigerian government with the opportunity to address energy challenges without the need for expensive power generation projects, transmission and distribution networks. This objective of this study is to assess the extent to which the level of knowledge and awareness of solar technology influences adoption of domestic solar technology, to investigate the extent to which the level of income of physics students households influences adoption, it also seeks to establish the extent Education of physics students household head influence adoption of solar technology and finally to which extent the availability of substitute power source influence adoption of solar technology in lagos state This study aims at establishing the factors that influence the adoption of solar technology in Lagos state, a descriptive survey design will be used in the study, a stratified random sampling was used to identify a sample and data was collected using questionnaires and structured interview schedules. A sample of 365 physics students households was be studied from a target population of 6733 physics students households; only 300 physics students household heads responded which represented 82,2% of the targeted. The findings indicate that the community has not adopted much to solar technology with only 32% using solar in the region.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Renewable energy comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides and geothermal heat. About 16% of global energy consumption comes from renewables: 10% is from traditional biomass, which is used mainly for heating and 3.4% from hydroelectricity. New renewables such as small hydro, modern biomass, wind, solar, c and bio-fuels account for about 2.8% (UNEP, 2011). There has been a rapid growth in new renewables because of increased uptake of the relevant technologies. The share of renewables in electricity is about 19%, and it is estimated that about 16% of global electricity comes from hydroelectricity and 3% from new renewable.
Global investments in renewable energy, increased by 32% in 2010, to a record US$211 billion. The increase was mainly because of wind-farm development in China and small-scale solar PV installations in Europe (UNEP, 2011). Africa achieved the largest percentage increase in investment in renewable energy among developing regions excluding the three big economies. Total investment on the continent rose from US$750 million to US$3.6 billion, largely, because of strong performance in Egypt and Nigeria.
In 2008, India accounted for 17.7% of the global population but was the fifth-largest consumer of energy, accounting for 3.8% of global consumption. India’s commercial energy supply is dominated by coal and oil (most of it imported), with renewable energy contributing less than 1% overall and accounting for approximately 10% of installed capacity. As in many countries that are experiencing high economic growth, its power-generating capacity is insufficient to meet current demand, and in 2009–2010, India experienced a generation deficit of approximately 10% (84 TWh) and a corresponding peak load deficit of 12.7%, i.e. over 15 GW. As a result of frequent electricity shortages, the Indian economy lost about 6% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in FY2007–2008. To meet its current goals of economic growth, by 2017 India will need to increase its installed generating capacity to over 300 GW. In recent years, control over generating facilities has shifted to federal government and private entities, including those that have set up captive power plants for their industrial facilities. The private sector dominates the generation of renewable energy (Arora et al., 2010). China and India are currently two of the key drivers of world energy mainly due to their large populations and initiatives to adopt renewable energy technologies (RET).
