The Brazilian Association of Photovoltaic Solar Energy (ABSolar) says the country has reached 17 GW of installed solar capacity for PV projects below 5 MW in size. Over the past three months, connection requests for distributed-generation PV projects have hit 32 GW.

Brazil’s newly elected government, under Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva, will face energy-transition and decentralization issues during critically important years in the fight to curb climate change. Livia Neves reports from Rio de Janeiro.

Brazil has deployed 6.52 GW of cumulative utility-scale solar and 13.57 GW of distributed-generation PV projects below 5 MW in size.

The Chinese manufacturer said the modules will have a nominal power of 575 W and a temperature coefficient of -0.32% per C.

Mexican solar manufacturer Solarever said it wants to invest $1 billion in a new factory in Jalisco and Brazilian PV system provider Sengi Solar said it aims to set up two manufacturing facilities in the states of Paraná and Pernambuco.

The auction was scheduled to be held on September 16. Energy regulator ANEEL said the move was due to inconsistency in the auction management system.

Greener says that battery storage could help large electricity consumers in Brazil to cope with sharp differences between peak tariffs and off-peak tariffs.

High-power solar panels with outputs above 500 W accounted for more than 60% of all PV module imports to Brazil by volume in the January-March period.

Of this new capacity, 8.9 GW may come from distributed generation and 3.2 GW from utility scale solar. By the end of December 2022, the country’s installed solar power should reach 25 GW, according to new figures from Brazilian trade body ABSolar.

The Brazilian authorities have introduced new rules to ensure that PV systems below 5 MW in size will still be eligible for net metering tariffs until 2045. A grid fee for prosumers will go into effect from 2023, but the economic profitability of rooftop PV and small solar parks is expected to remain high.