The Brazilian photovoltaic solar energy sector has made some important progress, but still awaits more favorable conditions for full development.
Recently, Brazil reached the new milestone of 350 megawatts (MW) of installed power in solar microgeneration and distributed minigeneration systems.
Despite considering it an important achievement, the CEO of the Brazilian Association of Photovoltaic Solar Energy (Absolar), Rodrigo Sauaia, sees potential for even greater growth.
“Our country has just under 40,000 small-scale systems. Meanwhile, there are countries that have already surpassed the 1 million mark and others are approaching the 2 million mark,” he said. He also mentioned that Brazil is beginning to manufacture photovoltaic equipment, but that companies need greater incentives.
“There is still a high and unfair tax burden on production inputs,” he reveals. Sauaia also spoke about how the sector will deal with environmental issues and sustainability. “The sector has an international recycling program, which demonstrates that it is possible to recycle 96% of the components of a photovoltaic equipment”, he responded when asked about the fate of the modules after the end of their useful life.
What has helped the growth of solar in Brazil?
There are several main factors that have allowed Brazil to reach this 350 MW mark. The first of these is related to the price of photovoltaic solar energy. Over the last decade, the technology has become 80% cheaper. This is a major gain in competitiveness, which has made the source more accessible to the population, companies and governments.
The second important factor was the increase in electricity rates, which have increased significantly and weighed heavily on the population's pockets, at rates well above inflation. To give you an idea, last year, average inflation was 2.95% per year, while electricity prices increased by 10% in the year. In 2018, experts project that the electricity price increase will be between 10% and 15%, on average. In some states, this increase is even higher. Minas Gerais had an increase of 25% in price increases this year. All of this puts pressure on consumers to look for alternatives and ways to save money.
What role have domestic consumers played in the expansion of solar? Have they led this growth?
If the segment we call residential has been the leader in terms of the number of consumer units, on the other hand, when we look at the volume of investment and installed capacity, the first place goes to the trade and service companies, which account for almost 44% of all investments and installed capacity. These two segments [commercial and residential] together, as well as micro and small industries, are those that pay the most expensive electricity in Brazil. And, therefore, they should continue to lead the use of photovoltaic solar energy.
Small rural producers also appear on this list, but they have some slightly different characteristics. Typically, energy in rural areas has a lower cost. Other factors, besides economic ones, lead producers to be very concerned about generating their own energy. Often, to bring energy to a region where there is no access to electricity, they can use solar photovoltaic energy for greater stability in the energy supply.