Solar reaches a new milestone in Brazil: 13 GW of installed capacity

Brazil reached, on Tuesday (04), the historic mark of 13 GW of installed capacity of photovoltaic solar source in large plants and small and medium systems installed on roofs, facades and land, according to data collected by Canal Solar from ANEEL (National Agency of Electrical Energy).

The record only reinforces the growth of the sector in recent years, which has seen its operating power increase by 160% in less than two years, jumping from 5 GW in April 2020 to 13 GW today.

According to calculations made by ABSOLAR (Brazilian Photovoltaic Solar Energy Association), in less than 10 years, the source has already been responsible for bringing to the country more than R$ 61,6 billion in new investments, besides R$ 15,7 billion in revenue for the public coffers and more than 360 thousand accumulated jobs.

Solar energy has also already avoided the emission of 13.6 million tons of CO² into the atmosphere since 2012, when there was the creation of Resolution 482 (Normative Resolution No. 482/2012) - a document that defined rules for Brazilian consumers to generate their own energy, connected to the distribution network.

The Association stresses that the growth of solar energy is fundamental for Brazil's social, economic and environmental development, given that it helps diversify the supply of electricity, reducing pressure on water resources and the risk of further increases in the population's electricity bill.

Earlier this morning, Canal Solar published a survey by IPEC (Intelligence in Research and Consulting), which shows just that: that increases in the electricity bill in 2021 will impact the lives of more than 90% of Brazilians.

Centralized Generation
Brazil has 4.63 GW of installed power in solar plants of the CG (Centralised Generation) segment, equivalent to 2.53% of the country's electricity matrix. In January 2021, the index was 1.7%. Currently, solar is the sixth largest source of energy generation in Brazil, with 5,144 undertakings in operation in 23 Brazilian states, in the following regions:

North: Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Pará, Rondônia and Tocantins.
Northeast: Alagoas, Bahia, Ceará, Maranhão, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Piauí and Rio Grande do Norte.
South-East: Minas Gerais, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo.
Centre-West: Mato Grosso, Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul.
South: Santa Catarina and Paraná.

Distributed Generation
In the DG (Distributed Generation) segment, there are 8.37 GW of installed power of the solar source in all Brazilian states. Currently, 5,437 of the 5,570 municipalities that make up the national territory already have at least one solar system installed in residential, commercial, rural and industrial establishments and in public power buildings and services.

Among the locations, the states with the most installed power are Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul, Mato Grosso and Santa Catarina. The first three have already reached the mark of 1 GW in operation. According to ABSOLAR, in addition to being competitive and accessible, solar energy is quick to install and helps to ease consumers' pockets, reducing their electricity costs by up to 90%.

The 10 Brazilian states with the most installed capacity in solar GD:

Minas Gerais: 1,476 MW.
São Paulo: 1,063 MW.
Rio Grande do Sul: 1,009 MW.
Mato Grosso: 593 MW.
Santa Catarina: 472 MW.
Paraná: 451 MW.
Goiás: 415 MW.
Rio de Janeiro: 323 MW.
Ceará: 289 MW.
Bahia: 288 MW.

Source: Solar Channel