Problem Statement
Irregular and unreliable electricity supply is a perennial problem in Nigeria. Most houses get only few hours of electricity supply per day and at times none at all. This situation has left most homes and office generating their own electricity supply. In the same vein, I was saddled with the challenge of selecting an alternative source of electricity supply for my house.
Irregular and unreliable electricity supply is a perennial problem in Nigeria. Most houses get only few hours of electricity supply per day and at times none at all. This situation has left most homes and office generating their own electricity supply. In the same vein, I was saddled with the challenge of selecting an alternative source of electricity supply for my house.
Alternatives
Three alternatives were considered:
1) Buy a 5kv Hyundai petrol generator
2) Buy a 5kv Hyundai diesel generator
3) Buy a 5kv Cyberpower inverter with 4 dry-cell batteries
Outcome of Alternatives
Alternative Selected
1) Buy a 5kv petrol generator
Initial cost – N150,000
Running cost/year – N300,000
Maintenance cost/year- N40,000
Operation - Manual (requires someone to fuel, and switch on & off)
Environmental Consideration – generates dangerous fumes and noise
Safety Consideration - uses highly inflammable fuel
2) Buy a 5kv diesel generator
Initial cost – N180,000
Running cost/year – N360,000
Maintenance cost/year- N80,000
Operation - Manual (requires someone to fuel, and switch on & off)
Environmental Consideration – generates dangerous fumes and noise
Safety Consideration - uses inflammable fuel
3) Buy a 5kv inverter with 4 dry-cell batteries
Initial cost – N480,000
Running cost/year – N0
Maintenance cost/year – N0
Operation - Automatic (does not require fuelling and switching on & off)
Environmental Consideration – does not generate fumes or noise
Safety Consideration - does not use fuel
Selection Criteria
S/N | Criteria | Weight |
1 | Initial cost | 4 |
2 | Running cost | 6 |
3 | Maintenance cost | 5 |
4 | Ease of Operation | 2 |
5 | Environmental friendliness | 1 |
6 | Safety of operation | 3 |
Analysis of Alternatives
Alternatives | Initial cost | Running cost | Maintenance cost | Ease of Operation | Environmental Friendliness | Safety of Operation | Ranking |
Weight | |||||||
4 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||
Buy a 5kv petrol generator | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 43 |
Buy a 5kv diesel generator | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 28 |
Buy a 5kv inverter with 4 dry-cell batteries | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 55 |
Key: Best - 3, Fair - 2, Worst - 1
Alternative Selected
Based on the above analysis, Alternative 3 which is “Buy a 5kv inverter with 4 dry-cell batteries” got the highest score and is therefore the selected alternative.
Performance Monitoring
Actual initial, running and maintenance costs will be tracked to determine if there is any deviation from the original budget. Any budget and performance deviation will be taken into consideration when carrying out future analysis.
References
1. Engineering Economy, 14th Edition. (Chapter 1, Page 27, William G. Sullivan, Elin M. Wicks, C. Patrick Koelling
ALMOST a WOW!!!, but not quite!!! If only you would start to look for at least two more references, you would have found a much BETTER way to analyze this decision. If you referenced Chapter 14 in your Engineering Economy, you would have discovered MULTI ATTRIBUTE decision making, where you could have evaluated not just COST of acquiring and operating the generator, but also such things as NOISE LEVELS, exhaust fumes, fuel tank capacity, (run times) automatic vs manual transfer.......
ReplyDeleteALMOST there, Biola!!!! Start to do another 10 or 15 minutes worth of research AFTER writing your problem statement and you will DEFINITELY be on the right track!!!
Please join Lanre and SeeGod in helping out those on the team who are struggling with this assignment. You definitely GET IT!!!
Keep up the great leadership, Biola... You are doing a very good job!!!
BR,
Dr. PDG, Jakarta