The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) on Tuesday launched a range of new standards for solar system components in line with the nation’s drive for use of renewable energy.
The new industrial standards are for solar panels, batteries, inverters, photovoltaic (PV), charge controllers and metering standards.
The Director General of (SON), Mallam Farouk Salim, said in Abuja that the initiative was part of the mandate of the Nigerian Energy Support Programme(NESP).
NESP is a technical assistance programme co-funded by the European Union (EU) and the German Government.
According to him, the new solar components standards will support the Federal Government’s objective to accelerate access to energy, by creating a regulated solar PV market in the country.
He said that setting up and adhering to the standards would unluck the potential opportunity within the Nigerian market for renewable energy technology deployments.
“Globally, lack of enough efforts to provide sufficient energy has resulted in the challenges and impacts that affect the climate, causing untold greenhouse effects.
“In Nigeria, we crave for high energy sufficiency while expecting to protect nature.Therefore, we can no longer afford to ignore actions against greenhouse effects.
“It is to this end that these sets of standards and the other approved standards in this category are considered very important, timely and instruments for actions to support energy sufficiency,” he said.
The director general said that the standards would also mitigate the negative effects of climate change.
“As these standards are launched today, opportunities for fair trade practices, lowered cost of manufacture/assembly, consumer satisfaction, business expansion, employment creation and career development will all be enhanced.
“I therefore urge you to comply with all the requirements of these standards to ensure good manufacturing practices and the best product quality that will satisfy all consumers at all times,” he said.
Salim explained that the SON would carry out stakeholders awareness campaign and strict enforcement to ensure that manufacturers, project developers and users complied with the new standards.
It was reported that representatives of relevant government agencies, international partners and other stakeholders in the power sector were present at the launch.
The Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA), Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission(NERC), Federal Ministry of Power, the Nigerian National Committee of IEC/Technical Committee were among the relevant institutions that sent their goodwill messages to SON.
Engr. Peter Ewesor, NEMSA Managing Director and Chief Electrical Inspector of the Federation, said that the launch was a milestone in the effort toward enforcement of standards and regulations.
He said that NEMSA enforcement team would work with SON to ensure that manufacturers of electrical materials and installations upheld stipulated standards.