Brazil adopts distributed solar power generation with support from Chinese companies

Solar photovoltaic energy has grown rapidly in Brazil over the last five years, mainly due to the development of the distributed energy market, with a strong presence of Chinese companies offering equipment, technology, and solutions.

Unlike centralized generation, which involves more complex projects and higher investment, distributed generation, such as that which families can put on their roofs, is renewable and will help Brazil to maintain the environmental balance in its energy matrix, taking into account that more than 80% of Brazilian electric power is clean.

In terms of installed capacity, solar energy is the third largest source of electricity production in the South American country, with 8.4%, behind hydroelectric and wind power, so the forecast is that by the end of 2023, solar energy will overtake wind power and be the second largest Brazilian energy source.

Guilherme Chrispim, president of the Brazilian Association of Distributed Generation (ABGD), explained to Xinhua that Brazil currently has 12 gigawatts (GW) installed capacity in distributed generation.

“Most of the projects, 85%, are individuals, small businesses, industries, small agricultural producers that produce and consume for themselves. It is an irreversible trend,” he noted.

With a 55-fold growth since 2017, distributed generation has a great potential for development, starting with the sanction in January this year of the Legal Framework for Micro and Mini Distributed Generation, which gave greater legal certainty to the sector.

“It is still a very new market, with a lot of room for growth as well as for the development of new technologies,” said Chrispim, who estimates that installed capacity should reach at least 40 GW by 2030.

He also assured that over 80% of the companies supplying equipment are of Chinese origin.

“We achieve these figures because we have good Chinese suppliers who support us to achieve this. Huawei is one, but there are other Chinese companies with quality products. In the case of the solar PV source, in Brazil, all this would not have happened if we did not have the supply from China,” he said.

What Chrispim is referring to is a joint initiative with Huawei, where the ABGD visited more than 50 cities with a mobile truck equipped with a classroom to offer qualification courses and a demonstration house with a kitchen and laundry, powered by a microgeneration system, with the purpose of qualifying professionals and fostering business initiatives with renewable energies.

Engineer Nelson Stanisci, Solutions Manager of Huawei’s Digital Power division, told Xinhua that one attraction for consumers is the economic incentive, but in addition, many are looking for sustainability to contribute to a more renewable energy system.

In Huawei’s Digital Power division, the star product is the photovoltaic inverter, a converter that transforms the direct current energy from the photovoltaic generator into alternating current, in addition to other products such as batteries and accessories.

“The PV inverter is the brain of the power plant, from the residential system to the centralized generation system of large projects,” he explained.

According to Stanisci, residential projects can be implemented with a payback of four to five years, a very attractive investment for a system that has the potential to last more than 20 years.

“In Brazil, we have a great advantage both for the solar resource, as well as for the availability of area, and for being close to Ecuador, also a favorable condition. I believe we are on the right track and the growth of solar energy has no turning back; it will be very disruptive,” he emphasized.

With information from Xinhua