Daystar Power Group

Calling all female electrical engineering graduates in Nigeria 📣 We’re accepting applications for the fifth cohort of the Women in Power Training (WIPT) programme which will start in January 2025. WIPT is an intensive, one-year skills development and job training programme at Daystar Power, developed specifically for female electrical engineering graduates. For the first six months, trainees learn technical and soft skills in a classroom setting before doing rotations in business units. Trainees gain invaluable insights into the client lifecycle from business development to sales and design to installation and field service (maintenance). Trainees are then assigned to a unit for the remaining time of the programme. At the end, qualified trainees are offered a job at Daystar. To be eligible, you must have: - Education: a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from a reputable university  - Completion of NYSC  - Experience: 0-2 years experience  - Strong interest in solar energy and sustainability - Excellent problem-solving skills and attention to detail - Ability to work effectively in a team environment - Strong communication and interpersonal skills Applications close on November 25. Apply now:  https://lnkd.in/ghh2F496

Power reliability can spell life or death in healthcare. That is why hospitals and clinics in West Africa are turning to solar energy to power their critical loads. With 99.9% uptime from our systems, healthcare providers can rest assured that they can attend to their patients. We are proud to support healthcare providers with clean, affordable and reliable power. For our hospital clients in Lagos, Nigeria and Kumasi, Ghana, our solar systems act as backup power to run critical loads, like operating equipment in the ERs. We are proud to support hospitals across the region in delivering life-saving care for their patients. Are you a healthcare provider looking to adopt solar power as a reliable backup power? https://lnkd.in/d5SVA7Z9

Before she started the Women in Power Training (WIPT) programme, Oke had never seen the internal components of a generator. Fast forward a few months. “I was soon correcting my generator repairman at home,” she said. Meet Oke-Oghene Obibi Favour When we spoke with her, Oke - a member of the project design team - was working on AutoCAD designs at home. Oke grew up between Abuja, Lagos and Delta State. At six-years old, she used to dismantle her mother’s iron and radio to discover what was inside. At that moment, her mother knew she’d be an engineer. Oke went on to study electrical engineering at Bells University of Technology in Ogun State. It was an interesting experience, she said. “We were exposed to different practicals and electrical experiments. We did a lot of designs in AutoCAD. It was one of the motivations to continue in electrical engineering.” Oke’s SIWES internship at the Transportation Company of Nigeria was an eye-opener. She got to see up close large 132 kva electrical systems, step down transformers and circuit breakers. After graduating in 2020, she completed her NYSC at a biotech company. She put her engineering skills to use, repairing medical equipment. But she was looking for a change, and when a friend (and now colleague at Daystar) told her about WIPT, she applied in no time. For Oke, WIPT has been a great opportunity to gain exposure. Besides repairing generators, she’s climbed tall roofs (it was scary), laid solar panels, and learned how inverters worked. We’re proud to work with such talented and motivated people like Oke on our team. Are you interested in joining the WIPT programme? Learn more in the below blog post: https://lnkd.in/dAZTn9pw

Are you ready to integrate solar into your energy set-up but undecided on which of our offerings work best for you? We created a checklist to help you decide on whether Solar as a Service (SaaS) or Power as a Service (PaaS) best fits your energy needs. Let’s dive in ⬇️ You should go with SaaS if you: ➡️ Want to outsource your solar plant but keep your diesel gensets and grid in-house. ➡️ Need a minimum 200kWp solar system ➡️ Have plenty of space (rooftop or land for ground-mounted PV) to install a solar plant of up to 1MW Our SaaS clients are mostly industrial manufacturers like large bottling companies, FMCG producers, and agribusinesses. They want to add large scale solar to reduce their reliance on diesel generators and cut their carbon emissions. But they're happy managing the other parts of their power set-up. Is SaaS not a good fit? Take a look at PaaS. PaaS works if you: ➡️ Don’t have a facilities team. You prefer to outsource your power management to a trusted 3rd party. ➡️ Prefer to work with one vendor for diesel and genset maintenance. ➡️ Have ageing and inefficient gensets. Our PaaS clients tend to be smaller, like bank branches, with modest power consumption. Multi-location clients, like banks, service stations, and fast casual restaurants, also want to simplify vendor management by switching to PaaS. If you’re interested in saving costs and adding solar to your energy mix, get in touch with us for a quote at: https://lnkd.in/dcPQwi88

“I was too stubborn” That’s what Glory James — this week’s Women in Power Training (WIPT) profile feature — said about studying engineering. Her father thought engineering was a man’s job and persuaded her to rethink her application. Since an engineering degree takes five years in Nigeria, her family worried that she might miss out on getting married early. But, Glory stuck to her guns. Though she has roots in Abia State, Glory was born and raised in Lagos. Glory traced her interest in renewable energy to primary school. In a science class, she learned about climate change and the crippling impact of greenhouse gases on the ozone layer. She was so taken with the subject that she even dreamed of building a car that ran on water. Before attending university, Glory took a computer engineering course at a technical school, where she grew fascinated with electronics. She loved reading about the electronic circuits and the components in computers, such as resistors, capacitors and integrated circuits. That steered her towards electrical engineering. In 2015, she entered Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike in Abia State. At university, she loved the hands-on practical sessions the most. While she struggled initially to secure a SIWES internship, she was finally placed in a business services role at an oil and gas company. Knowing she was an engineering student, her managers let her observe the maintenance team. She would watch and ask questions while they inspected the company's gas and diesel generators, transformers, combiner boxes and other electrical equipment. While applying for jobs after graduation, she saw the WIPT advertisement on LinkedIn. “I was so excited that Daystar was looking for female electrical engineering graduates and when I saw that I met all the requirements, I instantly applied.” Seven months into the programme, Glory is impressed with the quality and diversity of the training. “I thought we’d just learn about installing solar panels, but we were taught communication, effective selling and negotiation skills, and soft skills. It was way more than I had expected,” said Glory. “For Daystar to invest so much in trainees is surprising and impressive. Not many organisations in Nigeria would invest in their trainees this much.” Glory said that her growth has been exponential. Naturally shy, (“I’ve always been in a box”), Glory has come out of her shell seeing how the team communicates. She’s learned to not shy away from being assertive to get her work done. We’re thrilled to see how far Glory has come in WIPT. Are you interested in learning more about WIPT? Check out our blog post from last year: https://lnkd.in/gf-M5wFb

Does roof orientation affect the amount of electricity produced by solar panels? In short---yes. The angle of solar panels has an impact on the power generated as the sun moves east to west. To produce the maximum output, panels should face south (towards the equator) and be tilted at an angle equal to the latitude. Our installation team assesses the orientation of our clients’ roofs and places panels to maximise electricity production. Are you interested in adding solar to your energy mix? Get in touch: https://lnkd.in/d5SVA7Z9

We can’t believe it’s been more than one year since we launched in South Africa. We are building a talented team passionate about bringing energy security and sustainable power to South African businesses. Led by Country Head Wendy Green, our South African team reflects the diversity that is the bedrock of the Rainbow Nation, hailing from 4 provinces and speaking 11 languages. South Africa’s rapidly changing power industry makes it a fascinating time to operate in the sector. We can hardly keep up with the changes afoot: new business models, liberalisation, and the emergence of commercial and individual “prosumers” thanks to wheeling. For us, South Africa is one of our most dynamic and challenging markets. #solarpower #solarenergy #africarenewables 

How often do I need to clean my solar panels? It is recommended to clean solar panels every 6 months to a year. But, at Daystar Power, we go above and beyond to ensure the maximum performance and longevity of your panels. Our maintenance team cleans our clients’ panels six times a year - even more during the Harmattan. Are you interested in adding solar to your energy mix? Get in touch: https://lnkd.in/d5SVA7Z9

In our latest Daystar Employee Spotlight, we’re featuring Elizabeth Blewudzi, Field Service Manager and pillar of our Ghana team. If you follow us, you know that we stand by our 99.9% system uptime. We couldn’t do it without Elizabeth and her team who work behind the scenes to ensure all systems – not just in Ghana but across West Africa – are running smoothly. Over her nearly 5 years at Daystar, Elizabeth has worked her way up to management. She first started out answering the phones as a customer communications specialist. It was an important job, she stressed, as it prepared her for field service. If you don’t understand customers’ challenges, you can’t find effective solutions. On a typical day, Elizabeth will first check the remote monitoring system to check for any issues with our solar systems: is the site live and communicating? Are there any faults with inverters or high voltage from the grid? If an inverter is on but not working, why is it not producing power? In case of any system issues, Elizabeth will assign technicians and schedule the necessary maintenance. Once the daily check is done and work teams assigned, she prepares daily and monthly performance reports for clients. Elizabeth is proud of keeping our systems up and running. In one particularly complicated case, she realised that a system’s inverter was not feeding into the electrical distribution point due to high voltage from the grid. After a week of doggedly following up with the ECG (the Ghanaian grid), the issue was resolved in less than one week. “Our clients refer us to other clients due to our performance,” she said. Two months ago, Elizabeth successfully defended her Master of Philosophy thesis in Renewable Energy Technologies from her alma mater Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi. In her thesis, she analysed the effect of grid voltage unbalance and fluctuations on the PV voltage of grid-tied solar systems using MATLAB simulation and machine learning prediction. Having successfully balanced her career and higher education, did she have any advice to recent female engineering graduates looking to go into renewable energy? She said: • Know what field of renewable energy (solar, hydro, biomass) you want to pursue  • Get a mentor  • Read, read, read  • Join fellowships and expand your knowledge of different renewable energy technologies We’re incredibly lucky to have such dynamic and talented people on our team like Elizabeth.

We pride ourselves on delivering customised solar solutions that fit your specific energy needs. What are the different steps in the design of our solar systems? Here's is a step-by-step breakdown of our process: 1️⃣ Audit & site assessment: First our team conducts a site audit. We carefully evaluate available ground, roof, or parking lot space to identify locations for solar installations. 2️⃣ Energy consumption analysis: We analyse your existing energy consumption (kWh) to properly size your solar system for peak load. We make recommendations on how you can save on energy costs by switching to energy efficient appliances and lighting. 3️⃣ Sizing and component selection: We ensure the system is tailored to your specific needs, optimising its performance. For example, we’ve noticed many bank clients in Nigeria install oversized gensets that only operate at 80% capacity. We provide the right sized generators that match consumption. 4️⃣ Performance simulation: Using our software, we then simulate the system's performance to guarantee highest energy production. 5️⃣ Peak hour optimisation: We focus on peak hours when energy consumption is at its highest. We adjust the system size based on available panel space to maximise your solar investment. Are you ready to add solar into your energy mix? Contact us: https://lnkd.in/d5SVA7Z9