The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) has envisioned the need to close Nigeria’s energy gaps with improved megawatts of solar electricity, having established the foremost Nigeria’s Solar manufacturing facility called NASENI Solar Energy Ltd (NSEL) way back since 2010.
NSEL is a solar Photovoltaic (PV) Module/Solar Panel manufacturing company located at the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, wholly owned by the Agency. The firm was established over a decade ago, following the growing frustration occasioned by epileptic power supply in the country, negating the industrialization drive of the country.
Recently, the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of NASENI, Mr. Khalil Suleiman Halilu, said on Kakaaki, a current affairs programme of the African Independent Television in Abuja on December 20, 2025, that the solar manufacturing plant has been upgraded from 22 megawatts to 50 megawatts in 2024 and that there are further plans to expand production capacity to over 100 megawatts in 2025 to meet growing demand.
According to Halilu, this current move is driven by the concern and passion to see a genuine socio-economic transformation of the country as well as the Agency’s desire to venture into full-scale solar manufacturing, including other renewable energy mix that will help the country to diversify its energy sources for greater efficiency.
The NASENI solar firm with full installed capacity can generate between 80 to 100 megawatts of solar electricity with the potential to generate more as the factory could be replicated in more states of the Federation in collaboration with the private sector.
The NSEL Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Module or Solar Panel is the first in West Africa to produce solar photovoltaic (PV) modules. It has since then gone through extensive research to design and produce them in various categories and sizes. The factory is equipped with the requisite machinery, man-power and technical-know-how, and produces high quality monocrystalline solar panels which have comparatively out-performed many other imported ones.
Being Standards Organisations of Nigeria (SON) certified with Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programme (MANCAP) certification, numerous testimonies abound from clients who have testified of their quality of the NASENI Solar panels. Examples of solar panels produced at the company include but are not limited to 80W, 175W, 180W, 190W, 200W, 250W, 275W, 350W and 690W.
Owing to available engineering and technical-know-how, the production section has the capacity to design and produce modules tailored to specific needs. The NASENI Solar Panels are distinguished by advantages such as the fact that they are locally produced, and are a progressive step further in the national industrialization drive.
Their ratings are usually lower than the actual power of the panels. For example, a solar panel rated as 200W is in reality more than the 200W. Thus, customers get more value for their money. Also, each solar panel has a verifiable data sheet, available for clients’ or installers’ system design purposes, which are in compliance with the Federal Government local content policy. In the same vein, there are verifiable sites of working solar panels.
Other products manufactured by NSEL include Plug ‘n’ Play Solar Home Solution, designed and patented to generate clean electricity for homes. It is designed to blend with the furniture in a typical Nigeria sitting room. In fact, it can serve as a TV stand in the sitting room.
This implies that one can place his TV or sound system on it and a visitor may not know that it is a power generator because of its unique design features. It is a plug ‘n’ play hybrid system with 1.5KVA electric power output rated capacity.
The components (except solar PV array) are enclosed in a finely designed wooden casing. The wooden casing looks very much like a piece of furniture and is suitable to be placed in the sitting room of an average Nigerian home. NSEL 1.5KVA Solar Power Plug ‘n’ Play Home System is designed to power the following home appliances: 1 television, 3 fans, 10 lighting points, I home theatre set, 1 laptop and mobile phones charging points.
Another product of the Agency is the Hybrid Solar Power Trainer Solar Photovoltaic (PV) technology, which has been referred to as a sure pathway to solve electricity poverty in Nigeria due to abundance of solar energy supply from the sun. However, the dearth of required skills has been identified as one of the banes to the adoption of the technology.
As a result, many solar powered training centres are evolving with a great number of them lacking in capacity in terms of live practical sessions and required tools. In view of the foregoing, NASENI Solar Energy Limited (NSEL) designed and constructed patented mobile and detachable integrated training equipment called NSEL Hybrid Solar Power Trainer.
The Trainer simulates a typical grid-tied solar PV household electrical wiring connection for trainees to have adequate knowledge. It is segmented into three chambers, which include Load chamber, which is an open-able lid on which the electrical loads are fitted. There is also the Power chamber, which is where inverters, charge controllers, switch gears and the electrical distribution board (DB) are fitted.
Then, there is the Base chamber, which houses the battery bank as well as the simulated electric generator. This Trainer will significantly serve as a first hand vital approach to exposing trainees to how solar PV power system can be connected to a typical residence and consequently increase the technical know- how required in the industry in Nigeria.
NASENI has another product called the Solar-Powered Event Generator, which is a well-known fact that when people are hosting certain events (parties), they don’t rely on public power supply. They provide their own source of power supply which is mostly in form of gasoline powered generators.
With the use of gasoline come several challenges such as Noise pollution, Emission of harmful gases into the atmosphere, Unstable supply frequencies due to impurities of fuel used, Unstable voltage supply due to variation of loads and Exorbitant running cost in terms of fuel consumption and maintenance.
The 1.5KVA NSEL Solar Powered Event Generator is designed and patented to replace the gasoline powered convectional generator with a view to eliminate the five challenges associated with the latter as mentioned above. It is a system that is efficient in frequency and voltage stability, a cleaner atmosphere with resultant health benefits.
The end product is a system that is overall less expensive, durable and a productive work force because of the fact that health hazards are removed, resulting in a healthy workforce. This generator is expected to provide power supply for occasions like marriage, naming ceremony or any other such social function that requires stable power supply.
It is made of components such as 3 foldable 270W solar panels on a collapsible stand. 1.5KVA inverter, 2 numbers of 200Ah deep cycle batteries and charge controller all encased in a wooden box. Another product from the Agency is the NSEL Solar Control System, designed to generate electricity that can power small scale electrical appliances such as lighting points, mobile phones, Laptop etc.
It is a device suitable for thatch rural homes, IDP Camps and outdoor camping. The design considerations adopted by NSEL were-needs assessment, local material deployment (local content), easy carriage, compact-ability, affordability, adaptation to existing infrastructure, and high performance. It is a plug n play off-grid system with 300W electric power output rated capacity.
According to NASENI, one does not need to be a Solar Power System installer to be able to install it; because it is already 90% pre-installed and you only need to just plug in as indicated and start using it. It comes with 300W micro-inverter, 50Ah 12Volts Deep Cycle Batteries, 80W Solar PV Module, a 12V 10A Charge Controller, 10m 4mm cable and 3 nos 5W LED bulbs.
NASENI has also ensured that other products from NSEL’s prowess transcend solar module production. The company carries out services like load auditing, systems sizing and design, PV module installations and maintenance, renewable energy services research and consultancies. The installation experience and capacity of the company’s pool of well-trained staff is premium; their works have been felt across the Nigerian landscape with coverage in all the geopolitical zones.
