Featured in Women at work – 08-2019

Distributed generation growing in Latin America

In the early years of the 21st century, distributed generation systems in Latin America were mainly installed off-grid in remote rural areas, writes Maria Chea, solar analyst at IHS Markit. As the El Niño phenomenon and high oil prices continued to exacerbate high electricity prices and power shortages, governments began to turn their attention to distributed generation, including PV systems, to assuage strains on their national grid networks.

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pv magazine

20 Aug 2019

A PV installation on the roof of Brazil’s Institute of Energy and Mines. By the end of 2018, IHS Markit estimates that more than 800 MW of distributed generation PV capacity had been installed in Latin America, with more than half of the total located in Brazil. | Image: Samuca Melo/PR

Countries such as Brazil, Mexico and the Dominican Republic enacted distributed generation laws as early as 2011 and 2012 to promote growth in the segment. Despite this early legislation, market growth was slow, mainly because PV technology was still expensive and unattractive in markets with regulated pricing. It wasn’t until after 2016 that the sector …

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