With all the razzmatazz of renewable energy disrupting the power sector in Nigeria, only 1 in 500 building has embraced renewable mostlysolar energy. This is certainly a poor margin for a country with a population of nearly 200million people which has 50% of its population living in darkness.
The buzz on solar energy as an alternative of replacing the epileptic power supply in Nigeria pushed an unregulated manufacturing burst that also saw substandard solar equipment (inverter, batteries, panels, etc) gushing into the market with no government regulations on standard, and also leaving the local solar dealers with no further option but to adoptsales of poorcomponents because of price factor and meeting profit margin. As usual, the market reacted. Consumers became less confident with solar as their preferred choice of energy.
The major culprit, the installers, who are at the forefront of consumer’s satisfaction mostly lack basic technical know-how and exhibit poor follow-up on customer servicing for faulty solar components which did not help retain existing customers, and consequently created a chain of negative reviews. The effect was that those who had little or no access to electricity then erased the thought of solar as an alternative source of their energy, leaving them at the mercy of PHCN and noisy generators to power their home & businesses. Solar became a NO-NO for the most of the Nigerian masses without electricity supply.
Solatrify, a value-added solar distribution company, wants to change that and overhaul the entire solar equipment market, by developing a robust web & mobile procurement platformthatprovides value-added services in the distribution chain to enables local solar dealers, contractors and installers to procure  all quality solar energy equipment from (vetted) top-tier manufacturing partners,at best warehousing prices.
According to the Chief Energizing Officer, Mr Ubah Benson, in order to grow a wide adoption of renewable energy and to make solar energy a more effective solution to tackle the electricity challenges in Nigeria and Africa at large, the quality of the equipment & components ( Inverter, panels, batteries etc) in the market need to be trusted, accessible & affordable, the installers needs to be professionals, have adequate financing and support mechanism, which is why Solatrify is embarking on a mission to build the largest network of solar dealers and trained installers in sub-Saharan Africa.
Solatrify will be frequently train solar dealer & installers in the art of getting quality solar equipment and offering professional installation jobs. Other value-added services will be providedsuch as assigned account managers, live stock update of inventory, reduce delivery cost, customize marketing & promotion, business solutions and financing support to accelerate growth in their business activities.
Our target market are on solar dealers & installers who is will cover 70% of the $9.2Billion/year solar energy market in Nigeria, as we expect more entry & participation in the industry over the next 10years across Africa. We want to be the pipeline that would educate, provide procurement platform & services, and remove some of the hurdles to ensure the continued prosperity of every participant working towards a solar future. This requires commitment, dedication and a collective effort of solatrician – (Any individual, co-operate firm, NGOs, investors that support the wide adoption of solar energy in Africa).
Solatrify will be establishing its first experience hub and mini warehouse in Alaba Lagos in September with the aim of breaking the negative effect for solar equipment in the region. Armed with exclusive distribution partnership from Top Solar Manufacturing brands in Nigeria like PRAG and DENIGsolar, Solatrify plans to onboard more top brands and open up more experience hub & strategic distribution warehouses across the country, growing larger networks of solar dealers and installers to distribute quality solar equipment and component to the millions of Nigerians without access to electricity.

Mr Benson believes that every Nigerian should have solar energy as an option to boost socio economic growth, and if this option comes with the best services and affordable pricing as compared to the unreliable PHCN and noisy generator sets, the solar industry will reach and exceed its full potentials in the next ten years.
To get more information on solatrify, visit www.solatrify.com