Daystar Power Group

This week we’re introducing a new trainee from our latest Women in Power Training (WIPT) cohort. ✨ Meet Adanze Ogboh. Adanze was born in Lagos but grew up in Kaduna. As both of her parents were engineers, she was exposed to the field early on. Adanze closely watched her mother, a chemical engineer, excel in a male-dominated field, which ignited her interest in engineering. Her father, a mechanical engineer, recognised her interest in science and encouraged her to consider engineering as a career. Driven by a desire to address Nigeria's unstable power supply, Adanze gravitated towards electrical engineering. She graduated with a degree in electrical and electronics engineering from Landmark University, Omu-Aran, Kwara State, and is completing her masters in power and machinery. Guided by a mentor who saw solar as the “new gold,” Adanze did her final year project on solar technology, which steered her towards renewable energy. In her academic journey, Adanze often confronted biases firsthand, none more striking than during her industrial training at a power plant. At the site, she often found herself sidelined due to her gender. The final straw came during a site trip. It was thought she couldn’t ride in the back of the pickup truck because she was a woman. After missing out twice, she decided she wasn't going to take it anymore. The third time, she hopped in, determined to prove herself alongside her male colleagues. Joining the WIPT programme has been a revelation for Adanze. She was surprised to see that solar energy could be used to power large companies and corporations. She thought solar could only be used for residential areas. After a month in the programme, Adanze finds WIPT both inspiring and educational. “I love what Daystar is doing because they train you on all the skills you need to excel in renewable energy. I like how they put safety first. Our very first lesson was on health and safety measures at the workplace. I love that they insist that safety should be part of our lives as engineers and not just an afterthought,” she said. Excited for the field service rotation, Adanze is eager to work on projects and gain hands-on experience. With aspirations to contribute to the renewable energy revolution, Adanze looks forward to gaining the expertise necessary to thrive in the field and be a catalyst for change.

Preventive maintenance is the key to power reliability. As we guarantee 99.9% power uptime, we constantly monitor our clients’ hybrid solar systems to prevent any system faults that could lead to downtime. Here are a few systems that our maintenance and operations team checks regularly: 1️⃣ Inverter reliability: Inverters are the backbone of solar systems as they convert DC to usable AC power. They can malfunction or outright fail if they overheat, degrade due to their age or have an electrical outage. 2️⃣ Battery lifespan: Batteries have a limited lifespan. But their capacity can diminish more quickly over time due to repeated charging and discharging cycles. 3️⃣ Poor system sizing: Inadequate sizing of solar panels, batteries, or other system components can lead to inefficiencies or system failure. If the system is not sized correctly to meet the client’s energy needs, it can result in energy shortages or excess energy that cannot be stored or used. 4️⃣ Electrical wiring: Faulty wiring or loose connections can lead to system malfunctions or reduced efficiency. It's crucial to ensure proper installation and regular maintenance to avoid these problems. 5️⃣ Software: Hybrid solar systems often rely on sophisticated control systems or software to switch between different energy sources, like solar, grid, and batteries. Software glitches or control system errors can disrupt the functioning of the system and may require reprogramming or troubleshooting. With our real-time monitoring system, we can instantly detect and fix issues before they escalate and ensure an uninterrupted power supply. Are you ready to switch to solar? Contact us: https://lnkd.in/d5SVA7Z9 

Can you guess this industry that is rapidly adopting off-grid solar? • The top 10 publicly traded companies have set scope 1 and scope 2 net-zero goals for 2050. (Source: Power Technology)  • Renewable energy is one of its few options to offset emissions.  • It benefits from having open space to build large solar farms. If you guessed mining, you’re right. This great Power Technology & Future Power Technology piece by Heidi Vella walks through how the global mining industry is investing in captive hybrid solar power to lower energy costs and decarbonise operations. According to stats from GlobalData, 1,500 out of 3,000 tracked mines (there are roughly 10,000 mines globally) have built off-grid power infrastructure. This typically includes solar, batteries, and natural gas generators. Though the piece focuses more on Australia and the USA, the same trend is in Africa. More mining companies, especially in South Africa, are adopting hybrid solar solutions to power their mines. Last year, Pan African Resources unveiled a 10MW grid-tied utility scale solar plant at its Evander gold mine outside Johannesburg – one of the biggest installations in the mining industry to date. #solarpower #solarenergy #solarmustreads https://lnkd.in/gx58HMKj

How many grid-tie inverters do I need for my solar system? Grid-tie solar inverters are one of the most important components of a solar panel system. Commonly referred to as “the brain” in any set-up, they convert DC electricity to AC power that powers your appliances. The number of grid-tie PV inverters depends on two things: 1️⃣ the size of your solar system  2️⃣ the DC and AC rating of each inverter A typical residential AC-coupled solar panel system requires one grid-tie inverter, with a power output rating between 5kW and 25kW. But some larger systems may require multiple inverters. For example, for a solar panel system rated at 50kW, we install two inverters, each rated at 25kW. Are you looking to switch to solar? Contact us for custom solutions to your business needs: https://lnkd.in/d5SVA7Z9 

How do I know my roof can support a solar installation? Before installation, our team carries out a simulation analysis to check if your roof can hold the required number of solar panels in our designed system. Here are a few things we check: 1️⃣ Optimal orientation and tilt: We check to see if your roof has the right tilt angle for maximum sunlight exposure. 2️⃣ Shading assessment: We identify and look for ways to mitigate shading from trees, nearby structures, or other obstructions to optimize power production. 3️⃣ Roof size and shape: We measure the available roof space and customize panel layouts for complex roof shapes. 4️⃣ Roof slope optimization: We explore options for optimizing panel angles on roofs with steeper slopes. 5️⃣ Structural integrity check: We check to see if your roof can support the additional weight of solar panels and mounting equipment. 6️⃣ Electrical configuration: Lastly, we measure the distance to the electrical service panel and plan for optimal wiring routes. Are you ready to add solar to your energy mix? Contact us: https://lnkd.in/d5SVA7Z9 

We’re resharing this behind the scenes look into our recent solar installation for Flexipack, which produces packaging material at its world-class factories in Agbara in Ogun State, Nigeria. Are you looking to solarize your operations to save on energy costs and reduce carbon emissions? Get in touch: https://lnkd.in/d5SVA7Z9

Today, let’s take you behind the scenes of our solar installation for Olam’s rice farm and mill in Nasarawa state in Nigeria. It’s a textbook example of how African agribusinesses are saving costs on energy and driving towards net zero carbon emissions. Olam is a Singapore-based agribusiness with a long-established presence in West Africa. They wanted to reduce their reliance on diesel generators and their carbon footprint by integrating solar into their energy mix. As a team, we’re always up for challenging projects — and this one didn’t disappoint. Like many agribusinesses in Africa, the Olam rice farm is located in a remote location. A 227-drive from Abuja, it’s a bumpy 7-hour drive to the site given poor road conditions. We spent an extra two weeks to have the land cleared and ready for the solar installation. But once it was empty, we moved fast to mount the solar panels, connect the cables and inverters, and perform QA testing. We seamlessly integrated the solar plant to work with the turbine powering the rice mill. Despite complicated logistics, we’re proud to say we delivered the project in 10 weeks. Are you ready to add solar to your energy mix? Contact us: https://lnkd.in/d5SVA7Z9

At Daystar Power, we provide two services: solar-as-a-service (SaaS) and power-as-a-service (PaaS). Under the SaaS model - the most commonly requested service at Daystar - we maintain solar PV, inverters and batteries, meaning one less worry for our clients. In the PaaS model, our clients pay a monthly fee and we provide a combination of technologies. This includes solar power and battery storage that can be integrated into the client’s existing power setup. To learn about the differences between SaaS vs PaaS, check out our blog post. We even include a handy checklist that you can use to decide which system is the best fit for you. https://lnkd.in/dGxKyBgM

At Daystar, we guarantee 99.9% uptime to our clients. Behind the scenes, our Maintenance and Operations team works tirelessly to make sure our clients have a steady power supply. We follow the strictest maintenance practices to ensure that our solar plants reach their 20-year lifespan: ✅ Every two months, we check air conditioners to make sure they’re working properly. AC can drive up to 80% of energy consumption, so we want to guarantee their efficient use. ✅ Every quarter, we inspect key solar equipment (solar panels, inverters and batteries) and test their performance. ✅ During our regular maintenance checks, we inspect cables that connect solar panels to inverters to make sure there is no overheating and mitigate any fire risks. To do this, we use heat mapping software to monitor thermography of all our solar equipment. ✅ Any increase from regular temperatures (35°C for solar PV & cables and 65°C for batteries) triggers an alarm in our system and alerts us to fix any issues in advance. ✅ And, our team cleans solar panels six times a year – even more during the Harmattan. Are you ready to add solar to your energy mix? Contact us: https://lnkd.in/d5SVA7Z9

The future of Africa’s energy sector is distributed. Last month, The Economist wrote a must-read piece on Africa’s rapidly growing solar industry. Leading the charge are Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE) companies, like Daystar, which are providing captive power to businesses across the continent. DRE companies have grown at such a clip that in Kenya they provide six times more jobs than the largest utility and in Nigeria almost as many jobs as the oil and gas sector -- that is stunning growth! And, we were delighted to see our acquisition by Shell was mentioned in the piece. https://lnkd.in/gtcuJByp