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How Solar Financing Works in Nigeria: The Terms
The objection is almost never that people doubt solar works. By the time somebody is talking to us, they have usually worked that out.
The objection is the number at the bottom of the quote, and the assumption that it has to be paid at once.
It does not, and the arithmetic of financing here is more interesting than most people expect, because you are not comparing a repayment against nothing. You are comparing it against something you already pay.
What the terms actually look like
Deposits start as low as ten per cent depending on which partner, and repayment runs from six months up to two years.
We deliberately do not name lenders or quote rates in a blog post, because both change and a stale figure is worse than none. What does not change is the shape: a deposit, then a fixed monthly amount over an agreed term, on a system that is working for you from day one rather than at the end of the payments.
The comparison that decides it
Here is where it stops being about affordability and starts being about arithmetic.
You already spend money on power every month. Fuel, servicing, the repairs that arrive at the weekend. That is not a possibility, it is a standing cost, and it goes up every year.
So the honest comparison is not the system against your savings. It is the monthly repayment against what you are already spending on fuel.
| What you spend on fuel monthly | Over a 12 month term | Over a 24 month term |
|---|---|---|
| ₦100,000 | Repayment is usually more than your fuel | Often close to level |
| ₦200,000 | Often close to level | Usually below your fuel spend |
| ₦400,000 | Usually below your fuel spend | Comfortably below |
| ₦585,000 | Comfortably below | Substantially below |
For a lot of homes the second and third rows are the real situation, and at that point you are swapping a bill that never ends for one that finishes. When the term is up, the fuel spend does not come back. That is the part worth sitting with, and we did the full sum in what your generator really costs.
What you need before anybody can quote a payment plan
The single thing that slows this down is not having your numbers.
- Your daily units, from your prepaid meter, which takes one day to get
- What you want to run, honestly, including anything you plan to add
- What you currently spend a month on fuel and servicing
- How long a term you are comfortable with
With those four, a sensible payment plan takes one conversation. Without them, everybody is guessing. Our free sizing guide covers the first one and costs nothing.
The mistake that makes financing expensive
Financing an undersized system is worse than not financing at all.
Because you are now paying monthly for something that still sends you back to the generator, which means you carry both costs at once. We have seen it, and it sours people on the whole idea for years.
So if the plan only stretches to a system that will not do the job, the right answer is a longer term or a smaller scope done properly, not a cheaper system that does everything badly. Anybody willing to sell you the second thing is not on your side.
Two numbers, side by side
Work out what you spend on fuel in a year. Then get a quote and ask what the monthly payment would be over eighteen months.
Write both down and look at them together. That comparison has ended more of these conversations than any argument about technology, and it either makes obvious sense for your household or it does not.
If you want us to run it with your actual figures, send them on WhatsApp on +234 809 988 9885. Tell us your daily units and your monthly fuel spend, and we will show you both numbers without any obligation attached to it.