Chukwuemeka Eze

University of Nigeria Nsukka / Solar Energy Systems Engineering

Advisor: Prof. Emeka Achebe

Chukwuemeka Eze optimises the configuration and dispatch strategy of hybrid solar-battery-diesel microgrids at the University of Nigeria Nsukka's Electrical Engineering department, targeting the 40 million Nigerians who lack reliable grid electricity. Working under Prof. Emeka Achebe, he has conducted detailed load surveys across 12 rural communities in Enugu and Anambra states, building granular 15-minute demand profiles that replace the generic load curves that cause conventional microgrid designs to over-size battery banks by 30–50%. His HOMER Pro optimisation, constrained to actual equipment prices in the Nigerian market and local solar irradiance data from SolarGIS, identifies configurations that cut the levelised cost of electricity by 18–27% compared to rural solar-diesel installations currently deployed by the Rural Electrification Agency. He has extended the model to incorporate tariff-block pricing to recover capital across diverse household income strata without cross-subsidy. His consulting engagement with a REA Nigeria rural electrification scheme — where his sizing methodology is being field-tested across 280 household connections — and his IEEE PVSC conference acceptance demonstrate the direct pathway from dissertation research to deployed infrastructure.