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Due to rising population and the increasing rate of urbanization, residential electricity usage accounts for a large chunk of Nigeria’s electricity consumption. However, little attention is paid to electricity conservation in the country. In response to this, several studies are been tailored to ensure a rapid reduction in energy consumption through various alternatives including energy efficient technologies given the current state of inadequate electricity supply in the country. On this note, this article discusses the significance of standby electricity in Nigeria. The electricity generation and consumption patterns were briefly discussed while the current electricity saving behaviour and practices among the urban dwellers were detailed with a case study analysed. Based on the case study, it was discovered that the mean standby load across the 30 households were estimated at 60 W ranging from 34-144 W. Also, standby consumption accounts for 13-44% of the annual electricity consumption across the households. Finally, the strategies for electricity saving and sustainable consumption, most especially the mitigation of standby electricity were highlighted.

Abstract:The Nigerian power sector is faced with poorly organized billing and consumer relations management. Tariff billing and collection has been a big problem in some community in Nigeria even with the introduction of prepaid meters. The process of payment is cumbersome and stressful as consumers have to go and pay in banks and then take tellers to power utility office to confirm their power bills payment before they can recharge their cards. The major purpose of this work is to design and implement a convenient, cashless, automated and transparent electricity metering, billing and payment system. This project combines the power electronic meter with a communications network which in this case is a GSM (global system for mobile) network. Remote electricity billing is a unique concept, in which the electricity board can collect the consumed units' data from consumer on mobile phone using GSM network. A unique property of this system is that, the electricity board can disconnect or reconnect consumers from remote location through the mobile phone. As this project works on GSM network, the system can be controlled from any part of the country.

Radiation from the sun continually generates enormous solar energy reaching the atmosphere and then radiates back into the outer space over a while. The energy source is considered to be potential renewable thermal energies if effectively harnessed and stored. Thermal energy storage could be in either cold or heat form for later use for either cooling and heating purposes respectively; it can also be utilized for electricity production. The development of highly efficient and cost-effective heat storage materials has been an emerging school of thought for researches into smart methods of heat storage. The authors briefly review the state-of-art carbon-based composite phase change materials (PCM) that have been employed in applications that are related to thermal storage. Various types of recently developed carbon composites with improved thermal storage properties have been succinctly discussed. The technological implications of employing the identified materials in the thermal storage applications were also highlighted and discussed.

This paper reviews various applications of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology and proposes electricity-saving power switch enhancement model to control the operation of electrical appliances in residential buildings using radio frequency identification (RFID) system. Estimation was made on the consumption of electricity in a private apartment in Pretoria, Gauteng Province, South Africa and compared with when the RFID card-reader system is deployed. The percentage energy saving in a year was calculated to be approximately 29 %. The possible energy savings for a period of 30years is estimated and the return on investment (ROI) determined. The authors concluded by making a case for a state policy on RFID energy efficiency technology.

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