Against the grid tariff
when the grid is upGrid only 0.137
Solar, no battery 0.073
Solar + battery 0.056
The panels themselves 0.014
- Solar only
- 4.6 years
- Solar + day-night battery
- 6.1 years
Available now Last verified 11 September 2026 · PURC Q3 tariff, GRA duties, Net Metering Code 2023
Commercial solar & battery storage in Ghana
Ghana bills businesses by the kWh only: $0.183 per kWh on the medium-voltage commercial tariff, with no capacity charge. Exported energy earns $0.071 per kWh under the 60/40 net-billing regime, capped at 500 kW per customer. With 22 outage hours in a normal year and diesel generation at $0.500 per kWh, the battery earns first as backup and second on self-consumption.
Market facts the model runs on
Primary-source values, each with its source and confidence level.
Grid tariff saved (self-consumption)
$0.183/kWh
PURC, SLT-MV energy charge after the Q3 2026 quarterly review (effective 1 July 2026), converted at the Bank of Ghana interbank rate; excluding levies and VAT
Export / feed-in remuneration
$0.071/kWh
PURC Net Metering Tariff Schedule (effective 1 April 2026): export credit at 40% of the retail rate, settled in kWh credits
Capacity tariff (monthly peak)
none
PURC Multi-Year Tariff Order 2026–2030 (December 2025): no separate maximum-demand charge; capacity is recovered in the energy charge
Fixed grid / service charge per year
$526/yr
ECG SLT service charge (PURC Q2 2026 decision), twelve months, converted at the Bank of Ghana interbank rate
Grid outage, normal year (SAIDI)
22h/yr
ECG SAIDI for Accra metro, 2024 (PURC tariff proposal September 2025, Table 7)
Grid outage, crisis year
670h/yr
World Bank Enterprise Survey, Ghana 2013 (load-shedding period): eight outages a month of about seven hours
Diesel generation cost avoided
$0.500/kWh
NPA pump price window 1–16 September 2026, at 0.30 l/kWh plus generator O&M; all-in cost per kWh
Net-metering cap per installation
500 kW
Net Metering Code 2023 (Energy Commission), Part B Clause 2: 500 kW per customer
High confidenceMediumTo be confirmed
Market scorecard
Ghana: why solar and storage pay here
Ten factors that decide how attractive a market is for a business installing solar, a battery and chargers — scored on primary-source data, not on opinion.
Solarnation market score
Strong market
Weighted over the ten factors below · the same scale for every country
1,600 kWh per kWp a year — roughly 1.7× a Belgian roof.
Production is almost flat across the year, and so is the air-conditioning load: high self-consumption without a large battery.
Outages and diesel at $0.500 per kWh make backup the first value stream, not an afterthought.
Seasonality — production vs consumption best ÷ worst month = 1.4
JFMAMJJASOND
solar production consumption
Solar yield 1,600 kWh/kWp/yr Top-tier irradiation: a small roof does the work of a large one in Europe.
Electricity price $0.183 /kWh Every self-consumed kWh displaces an expensive one — well above the cost of solar.
Seasonal variation 1.4 No winter dip, so the system is used all year and can be sized closer to the load.
Load match 0.9 Daytime cooling load lines up with solar hours — self-consumption before storage.
Grid reliability 184 h/yr Outage risk turns the battery into a backup asset with a hard business case.
Diesel baseline $0.500 /kWh Each backup hour on the battery replaces diesel at well above the grid price.
Export regime 0.4 Export earns little — size for self-consumption, not for injection.
Taxes & duties 3.3 % Solar hardware enters duty-free; only batteries carry a levy.
Demand charges none No capacity tariff, so no peak-shaving stream — one fewer way for the battery to earn.
Regulatory clarity 0.7 Licensing exists and works, but permit fees are quoted case by case.
Score 1–5 per factor on one global scale · green = favourable for the business case
Unit economics · Modelled estimate
What a kilowatt-hour costs a business in Ghana
Ghana has a working grid that still fails often enough for most businesses to keep a generator. Both comparisons matter: against the tariff solar brings a consumed kilowatt-hour to 0.056, and against the generator to 0.172.
Against the generator
during outagesDiesel generator 0.350
Solar + three-day battery 0.172
The panels themselves 0.014
0.178 USD per kWh cheaper than running the generator, a 51% lower cost per consumed kilowatt-hour.
- Grid reliability
- Moderate
- Population with grid access
- 89.5%
- Installation labour cost
- 0.07 × Belgium
- Solar yield
- 1,500 kWh/kWp
What shapes the cost here
Net saving over 25 years
2,011USD per kWp
Solar only, after deducting the installation. A 500 kWp roof: about 1,005,500 USD over the lifetime.
Return on solar
20.8% IRR
Solar without a battery, over its 25-year life
24.2% if the electricity price rises 3.5% a year
Households, for reference
- Grid
- 0.147
- Solar + battery
- 0.085
- Payback, solar only
- 6.7 years
What is in the calculation
Self-consumption at the retail price and exports at 25% of it. Installation split into hardware (similar worldwide) and labour, scaled per country. Solar written off over 25 years with output declining to 85%, batteries over 15 years.
What is not included
No discounting, maintenance, financing, subsidies, import duties or price rises. Where the tariff data allows it, peak shaving and arbitrage are counted; elsewhere they are left out, so a real case is usually better than this, not worse.
The rate at which the savings pay back the installation — comparable with any other investment. Maintenance, financing and subsidies are left out, so a real project usually does better.
Peak shaving and arbitrage are not counted here: we hold the tariff data for a limited set of markets only. That is missing data, not a market without value — a real case here is likely better than these figures.
These are modelled averages for the country, meant for comparing markets. Your own case runs on your roof, your load profile and your tariff — the configurator computes it with the rules that apply here.
How each figure is calculated
| Figure | Unit | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| Installation labour cost | × | Cost of installation labour relative to Belgium (1.0). Eurostat construction labour cost for Europe, elsewhere derived from GDP per capita. Hardware is priced the same worldwide; only the labour part is scaled. |
| Grid access | % | Share of the population with an electricity connection (World Bank, most recent year). |
| Grid reliability | 1 = reliable (rare outages), 2 = moderate (occasional outages or regional load shedding), 3 = unreliable (frequent outages or structural load shedding). The tier decides what solar is compared against: the grid tariff, a diesel generator, or both. | |
| Export that earns nothing | % | Share of the exported solar that is worth nothing because prices are negative or an export cap applies. Already deducted from the export revenue in the cost columns. |
| Grid price | USD/kWh | All-in retail price of a kilowatt-hour taken from the grid, the baseline every other figure is measured against. |
| Solar cost over 25 years | USD/kWh | Installation cost divided by everything the panels produce over 25 years, with output declining to 85 percent. The cost of the panels themselves, not of a consumed kilowatt-hour. |
| Cost per kWh with solar | USD/kWh | What a consumed kilowatt-hour costs with solar and no battery: grid purchase for the uncovered hours, plus the installation written off, minus the revenue on exported power. |
| Cost per kWh with solar and battery | USD/kWh | The same calculation with a battery that carries one night, written off over 15 years. |
| Cost per kWh with solar, battery and market income | USD/kWh | The same cost per consumed kilowatt-hour, minus what the battery earns on the monthly peak charge and on the daily price spread. Only for the markets where we hold the tariff data; elsewhere this equals the figure without market income. |
| Cost per kWh against diesel | USD/kWh | Cost of a consumed kilowatt-hour where the alternative is a generator: solar with three days of storage, with the generator covering what is left. |
| Peak shaving value | USD/kWp/year | What shaving the monthly peak saves per kWp of solar per year, in markets where the grid bills a measured peak rather than a contracted capacity. |
| Arbitrage value | USD/kWp/year | What charging cheap and using expensive earns per kWp per year on the spare battery capacity, after deducting battery wear. |
| Net saving over 25 years | USD/kWp | What one kWp of solar saves over 25 years after deducting the installation: self-consumption at the retail price plus exports at a quarter of it. |
| Payback, solar only | years | Years until the annual saving has paid back the installation, without discounting. Longer than ten years is reported as "over ten years": at that horizon the assumptions matter more than the outcome. |
| Payback, solar and battery | years | The same, for solar plus a battery that carries one night. |
| Payback, solar and three-day battery | years | The same, for solar plus three days of storage measured against the grid tariff. Three days of storage buys autonomy; against a cheap tariff it rarely pays for itself. |
| Payback against diesel | years | Years until solar with three days of storage has paid for itself against the fuel and maintenance of a generator. |
| Return (IRR) | % | Internal rate of return of solar without a battery over its 25-year life, at today’s electricity price. The rate at which the savings exactly pay back the installation — comparable with any other investment. No maintenance, financing, subsidies or price rises, so a real project usually does better. |
| Return with rising prices | % | The same return with the electricity price rising every year by the rate in the metadata. Solarnation uses this rate as its house default in payback work; it is a single assumption applied to every country, so treat it as a direction, not a forecast. |
| Annual saving | USD/kWp/year | What one kWp of solar saves in a year: self-consumption at the retail price plus exports at a quarter of it. |
Solar autonomy scorecard · Modelled estimate
How far solar and a battery go in Ghana
With PV sized at 120% of annual consumption, a battery that carries one night covers 85% of the demand in Ghana; a battery holding three days of consumption lifts that to 100%.
Generation is almost flat through the year: the strongest month yields 1.2× the weakest, so there is no season to bridge.
Even in the three leanest months practically nothing is left uncovered.
Businesses pay on average 0.137 USD per kWh, households 0.147 USD per kWh.
The configurator for Ghana calculates with 1,600 kWh/kWp, a site-specific reference (Global Solar Atlas, PVOUT for Accra). This scorecard uses 1,500 kWh/kWp, a rounded national estimate, so that all countries are compared on the same basis. Its seasonal figures likewise come from the climate model, not from the site-specific monthly profile above.
The market facts above use the tariff a medium-sized business actually pays in Ghana: $0.183 per kWh. The business price in this scorecard is a cross-country average over all business tariff classes, used only to compare countries.
- Electricity price, businesses
- 0.137USD/kWh
- Electricity price, households
- 0.147USD/kWh
- PV yield
- 1,500kWh/kWp
- Seasonal spread
- 1.2×strongest ÷ weakest month
- Three-day battery
- 10.3kWh/kWp
- Lean-season deficit
- 0.0%of annual consumption
Two battery scenarios
Both with PV sized at 120% of annual consumption.
Day-night battery
Stores the daytime surplus for the following night.
- Self-sufficiency
- 85%
- Self-consumption
- 71%
- Battery size
- 1.9 kWh/kWp
Three-day battery
Holds three full days of consumption, to ride through overcast spells.
- Self-sufficiency
- 100%
- Self-consumption
- 83%
- Battery size
- 10.3 kWh/kWp
Generation and demand through the year
Share of the annual total per month. Modelled from latitude and climate class, not measured.
- Weakest month
- 7.4%
- Strongest month
- 8.8%
- Seasonal spread
- 1.2×
- Consumption profile
- near-flat (cooling)
- Climate class
- tropical wet
PV yield / Consumption — Ghana
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PV yield (%) | 7.6 | 8.1 | 8.6 | 8.8 | 8.7 | 8.6 | 8.6 | 8.8 | 8.7 | 8.3 | 7.7 | 7.4 |
| Consumption (%) | 7.9 | 7.9 | 8.3 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 8.3 | 7.9 | 7.9 |
No seasonal gap to bridge
Even in the three leanest months practically nothing is left uncovered.
Every modelled value for Ghana
The same fields as the downloadable dataset, with their definition.
| Variable | Value | Definition |
|---|---|---|
Continentcontinent | Africa | Continent the country belongs to. |
Countrycountry | Ghana | Country name in English. |
Regionregion | — | Climate region within the country; empty when the country is modelled as one region. |
Electricity price, householdsprice_households_usd_mwh | 0.147 USD/kWh USD/MWh | Average all-in retail price for households, national average. Static average, not a dynamic or market price. |
Electricity price, businessesprice_businesses_usd_mwh | 0.137 USD/kWh USD/MWh | Average all-in retail price for businesses, national average. Empty where the source publishes no business price. |
PV yieldpv_yield_kwh_kwp | 1,500 kWh/kWp/year | Estimated annual yield of a well-oriented PV system per installed kWp, rounded to the nearest fifty. |
Weakest month shareweakest_month_share_pct | 7.4% | Share of the annual yield produced in the weakest of the twelve months (the wet season in monsoon climates, winter elsewhere). A perfectly flat year gives one twelfth per month. |
Strongest month sharestrongest_month_share_pct | 8.8% | Share of the annual yield produced in the strongest of the twelve months. |
Seasonal spreadseasonal_spread | 1.2× | Strongest month divided by weakest month. Close to one means flat generation all year; above ten means strongly seasonal. |
Self-consumption, day-night batteryself_consumption_daynight_pct | 71% | Share of the PV generation that is used on site with a battery sized to carry one night. Equals self-sufficiency divided by the oversizing factor. |
Self-sufficiency, day-night batteryself_sufficiency_daynight_pct | 85% | Share of the annual consumption covered by PV plus a battery sized to carry one night. Never above one hundred percent. |
Battery size, day-nightbattery_daynight_kwh_kwp | 1.9 kWh/kWp | Battery capacity needed to carry the night-time share of one day of consumption, per kWp of PV. |
Self-consumption, three-day batteryself_consumption_3day_pct | 83% | Share of the PV generation that is used on site with a battery holding three days of consumption. |
Self-sufficiency, three-day batteryself_sufficiency_3day_pct | 100% | Share of the annual consumption covered by PV plus a battery holding three days of consumption. This is the figure the energy-island assessment is based on. |
Battery size, three-daybattery_3day_kwh_kwp | 10.3 kWh/kWp | Battery capacity equal to three days of consumption, per kWp of PV. |
Consumption profileconsumption_profile | near-flat (cooling) | Assumed seasonal shape of demand for the climate: winter peak (heating), summer peak (cooling), double peak or near-flat. |
Lean-season deficitwinter_deficit_pct | 0% | Demand that stays unmet during the three consecutive lowest-yield months, despite the three-day battery, as a share of annual consumption. It is what remains for the grid, a backup generator or seasonal storage. |
Lean-season deficit, absolutewinter_deficit_kwh_kwp | 0 kWh/kWp | The same deficit expressed in kWh per kWp of PV. |
Latitudelatitude | 7.5 ° | Representative latitude used by the astronomical yield model; negative is the southern hemisphere. |
Climate classclimate | tropical wet | Climate class that sets the monthly cloud pattern, day-to-day variability and consumption profile. |
Monthly yield sharesmonthly_yield_share_pct | 7.6 · 8.1 · 8.6 · 8.8 · 8.7 · 8.6 · 8.6 · 8.8 · 8.7 · 8.3 · 7.7 · 7.4 | Twelve values, January to December: share of the annual PV yield per month. Modelled from latitude and climate class, not measured. |
Monthly consumption sharesmonthly_consumption_share_pct | 7.9 · 7.9 · 8.3 · 8.7 · 8.7 · 8.7 · 8.7 · 8.7 · 8.7 · 8.3 · 7.9 · 7.9 | Twelve values, January to December: assumed share of the annual consumption per month. |
How the model works
Monthly PV yield comes from an astronomical model (latitude, declination, tilt) multiplied by a climate pattern for cloud and rain. Day-to-day variability follows a gamma distribution per climate; multi-day coverage is the sum of independent days. Seasonal consumption is set per climate: a winter peak for heating, a summer peak for cooling, a double peak in Mediterranean climates.
Fixed assumptions
PV sized at 120% of annual consumption; 55% of consumption falls outside direct sun hours; battery round-trip efficiency 92%.
What it is not
An analytical approximation, not an hourly simulation of your site. Prices are static national averages, not dynamic or market prices. The deficit is not a storage recommendation: it quantifies what remains for grid, backup or seasonal storage.
Sources
- Electricity prices: national averages, Q2 2026.
- PV yield: Estimates in line with Global Solar Atlas (World Bank / Solargis), rounded to the nearest 50 kWh/kWp.
- Licence: CC BY 4.0.
- Dataset updated 2026-09-22
What changes for Ghana
Seven groups of country variables drive the model. Each value carries its source and a confidence level; the ones still open are shown as such — never hidden behind a default.
A Currency US dollars as the working currency, with an indicative cedi conversion at 11.4 GHS per USD. 1 validated value
B Irradiation & yield 1,600 kWh/kWp a year facing south, 1,520 east-west, at an optimal tilt of 9°. Refined per roof from PVGIS. 3 validated values
C Tariffs & value streams Buy at $0.183, export at $0.071, displace diesel at $0.500 per kWh. The turnkey battery price still needs a supplier quote. 13 validated values
D Grid & connection No capacity tariff, no decoupling relay and no MV cabin. Net-metering limit 500 kW per customer; 22 outage hours in a normal year against 670 in a crisis year. 15 validated values
E Taxes & duties VAT 15%. Import duty 0% on panels and 0% on inverters, 10% on lithium batteries. 5 validated values
F Recycling levies Not applicable — the Belgian recycling levies drop out of the estimate entirely. 2 validated values
G Permits & inspection Energy Commission permit fees and the ECG interconnection study are not publicly priced, so both sit at zero in the estimate and are flagged as open. 3 validated values
Sources
- PURC tariff gazette Q2/Q3 2026 and the MYTO 2026-2030 decision (tariffs and net-metering schedule)
- Energy Commission — Net Metering Code 2023, Part B
- Ghana Revenue Authority customs tariff (HS 8541 panels, 8504 inverters, 8507 lithium batteries)
- ECG reliability statistics via the PURC tariff proposal, September 2025
- Bank of Ghana interbank rate and NPA fuel price windows
Local partner
Installation, permits and after-sales run through our local partner; Solarnation designs, sizes and finances. Your case study is handed over to them after the last step.
Local partner to be announced.
Ghana — questions businesses ask
Every answer is a fact from the dataset above, with its source.
How much does electricity cost a business in Ghana in 2026?
$0.183 per kWh for a medium-voltage commercial customer, plus a service charge of about $526 per year. There is no capacity or demand charge under the 2026-2030 tariff decision.
Source: PURC SLT-MV tariff, Q3 2026
Does Ghana have net metering for commercial solar?
Ghana runs net-billing rather than one-to-one net metering: exported energy is credited at about 40% of the retail rate — $0.071 per kWh — and the Net Metering Code 2023 caps eligible systems at 500 kW per customer.
Source: Energy Commission, Net Metering Code 2023
Are solar panels and batteries taxed on import in Ghana?
Solar panels and inverters carry 0% import duty. Lithium-ion batteries carry 10%, and VAT of 15% applies to batteries.
Source: Ghana Revenue Authority customs tariff; VAT Act 1151
Is a battery worth it for a business in Ghana?
Usually yes, and first as backup: ECG reports about 22 outage hours a year in Accra in a normal year, rising to roughly 670 in a crisis year, while diesel generation costs around $0.500 per kWh. Self-consumption of solar comes second, and the configurator co-simulates both on one battery.
Source: ECG SAIDI via PURC; NPA fuel price windows
What is the payback of commercial solar in Ghana?
It depends on your load profile and your roof, which is why we do not quote a single number. The main drivers are the $0.183 per kWh tariff, displaced diesel and the 500 kW net-billing limit; the configurator computes payback and IRR from your own consumption in about five minutes.
Which currency and language does the Ghana configurator use?
US dollars with an indicative Ghana cedi conversion at 11.4 GHS per USD, in English. All amounts exclude VAT.
Source: Bank of Ghana interbank rate
Ghana — solar autonomy in short
Can a business in Ghana go off-grid with solar and a battery?
With PV sized at 120% of annual consumption, a battery that carries one night covers 85% of the demand in Ghana; a battery holding three days of consumption lifts that to 100%. Even in the three leanest months practically nothing is left uncovered.
How large a battery does solar autonomy take in Ghana?
Per kWp of PV, carrying one night takes about 1.9 kWh of battery and holding three days of consumption about 10.3 kWh. With the three-day battery, self-sufficiency reaches 100%.
How much does solar generation in Ghana vary between seasons?
A well-oriented system yields about 1,500 kWh per kWp a year. The strongest month produces 1.2× the weakest: 8.8% against 7.4% of the annual yield.