RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In all, installations total 8.6 gigawatts (GW) of power, equivalent to about 2/3 of the Itaipu hydroelectric power plant’s power.
A large share of this solar energy generation is concentrated in households, which account for 76.6% of consumers who use the technology, according to ABSOLAR.
Next come trade and service sectors (13.4%), rural producers (7.6%), industries (2.1%), public authorities (0.3%) and other types, such as public services (0.03%) and public lighting (0.01%).
Solar energy has been growing rapidly in Brazil in recent years, driven as much by the installation of small plants as by large projects aimed at the free energy market.
Earlier this year, the government passed a law establishing a regulatory framework for the distributed generation segment, which should further boost business across the country, ABSOLAR estimates.
To date, the entity considers that self-generation of solar energy has been responsible for attracting over R$44 (US$7.9) billion in investments in the country, in addition to the generation of more than 260,000 jobs accumulated since 2012.
For 2022, ABSOLAR expects that solar energy will virtually double in installed capacity compared to 2021, driven by the new legal framework and consumers’ search for alternatives to reduce their electricity bill.
It is expected that over 11.9 GW of power will be added from small to large projects in 2022, compared to the current 13 GW.
Of the R$50.8 billion in investments planned for this year, distributed generation will account for approximately R$40.6 billion, according to the entity’s estimates.
Despite the segment’s expansion, ABSOLAR considers that Brazil is still behind in the adoption of the technology.
“Of the more than 89 million electricity consumers in the country, only 1.1% use the sun to produce clean, renewable, and competitive energy,” the entity says in a statement.