Reducing carbon footprint by replacing generators with solar PV systems: a contingent valuation study in Lagos, Nigeria

摘要

Nigeria is endowed with abundant sunshine year-round; thus, solar PV would solve theenvironmental problems associated with petrol-powered generators. However, it is unclearwhether households are willing to transition. Thus, we analyze households’ willingness topay (WTP) for solar PV under four scenarios: (i) WTP when a solar PV is complementedwith a generator, (ii)WTPwhen a solar PV completely displaces a generator, (iii)WTPwhena solar PV is complemented with a generator, plus a subsidy, and (iv) WTP when a solar PVcompletely displaces a generator, given a subsidy. We find that WTP for solar PV is higherwhen it can displace generators completely. Subsidy plus monthly rather than upfront paymentwould scale up the adoption of solar PV by about 6 per cent. Furthermore, the costbenefit analysis results show that solar PV investment is profitable. Thus, there is a need toimplement policies aimed at scaling up the energy transition.