Brazil reaches 300 thousand consumer units supplied by solar PV distributed generation, ABSOLAR informs

Investments on distributed solar PV total R$ 14.6 billion (US$ 3.0 billion) in the country

São Paulo, May 2020 – Brazil has just reached the new milestone of 300 thousand consumer units supplied by solar PV distributed generation, as informed by the Brazilian Solar Photovoltaic Energy Association (ABSOLAR).

Brazil already has 2.8 gigawatts of solar PV distributed generation cumulative installed capacity, mainly at rooftops and façades of homes, commercial, industrial, rural and public buildings, as well as small and medium ground-mounted systems. Solar PV represents 99.8% of all distributed generation connections in the country, with over R$ 14.6 billion (US$ 3.0 billion) in investments accumulated since 2012, spread throughout the five national regions.

Despite the advances of recent years, Brazil – which has one of the best solar resources on Earth – still has a very small share of solar PV as part of its electricity matrix. For instance, in distributed generation applications, only 0.4% of the more than 84.4 electricity consumer units active in the country use sunlight to generate electricity.

In comparison to other countries, the share of PV connections in Brazil ranges from 10% to 20% of those in nations such as Australia, China, USA and Japan, all of which have already surpassed the mark of 2 million solar PV systems. A similar situation is observed when comparing Brazil to Germany, India, United Kingdom and others, which have already surpassed the 1 million systems mark.

Ronaldo Koloszuk, ABSOLAR’s president of the Board of Administrators, says that solar PV distributed generation is already a great investment, for companies and citizens alike, offering a better return on investment than many low-risk options available on the financial market. “Now that interest rates are lower in Brazil, consumers have searched for investment alternatives with better conditions, which is exactly the case of solar PV”, he comments.

According to Rodrigo Sauaia, ABSOLAR’s CEO, Brazil is a solar nation by nature, with privileged conditions to become a world leader in the field. “Solar PV reduces the electricity cost for the population, increases the competitivity of companies and unburdens the budget of governments, benefiting small, medium and large consumers throughout the country”, Sauaia highlights.

According to ABSOLAR, solar PV distributed generation can reduce up to 95% of electricity expenses of end consumers and free up resources for new investments in businesses, simultaneously creating new local and qualified jobs.