Daystar Power, a clean energy supplier based in Africa, has teamed up with Nigerian retail banking group Unity Bank to power the latter’s switch away from diesel, using renewable energy and energy storage.
Unity Bank has 240 offices across Nigeria, currently powered by burning diesel. The company wants to move to “cleaner and more efficient solar powered solutions”, Daystar’s owner Sunday Ventures said in a press release this week.
“A significant gap between required and available electricity from the grid is prevalent across Nigeria, leading to most businesses using diesel generators for most of the day,” Sunday Ventures CEO Christian Wessels said.
“However, advances in technology have made it economical for commercial and industrial customers alike to switch to cleaner hybrid solar power solutions.”
A Daystar representative told Energy-Storage.news today that the hybrid solutions will include battery storage based on OPzV lead acid batteries.
“The batteries act as a buffer, discharging during the early hours of the morning and the evening and recharging during the middle of the day. The type of batteries will 2V OPzV batteries, of which there will be 24 at each site. The battery capacity will differ depending on the site,” the Daystar representative said.
Unity Bank hopes that the switch will not only prove compelling from an economic standpoint but will provide a better experience for customers, while helping the environment.
“We believe that our transition to clean solar energy solutions will not only help providing a better experience to customers visiting our branches, but also contribute to safeguarding our environment. We are happy to be working together with Daystar Power in this endeavour,” Unity Bank managing director Tomi Somefun said.
Our sister site PV Tech reported in late August that Daystar signed a cooperation deal with the Nigerian Agricultural Bank, with a focus on medium and small-scale solar systems at the Bank of Agriculture's 158 locations and develop and operate solar power solutions for rural areas in Nigeria. Sunray Ventures, a venture capital group, set up Daystar to use private equity investments in order to “make a significant contribution to the electrification of the African continent, the company said.