The Brazilian Association of Solar Photovoltaics reports: solar power has just hit the 53 gigawatt (GW) mark of installed operating power in Brazil. However, despite significant growth over the past decade, the sector has faced major challenges that hinder the acceleration of the sustainable energy transition in the country.
Among the main bottlenecks identified by Absolar are the increase in the Import Tax on photovoltaic modules, cuts to renewable generation without due compensation to affected entrepreneurs, and obstacles to connecting small solar self-generation systems.
According to the entity, since 2012, the photovoltaic sector has attracted more than R$ 241 billion in new investments to Brazil, generated more than 1.5 million new green jobs, and contributed more than R$ 74.7 billion in tax revenue to public coffers.
The balance sheet considers the sum of solar generation through small and medium-sized systems (with 35.5 GW) and large solar plants (with 17.5 GW) spread throughout the country.
With this, the solar source has already avoided the emission of around 64.2 million tons of CO2 in the generation of electricity, contributing to the energy transition in Brazil. Currently, the source represents 21.6% of the entire installed capacity of the Brazilian electricity matrix, being the second largest in the matrix – the first being hydraulic.
However, in November 2024, the Federal Government announced a new increase in the import tax on photovoltaic modules (solar panels), from 9.6% to 25%: an extravagant increase.
The measure has hindered the advancement of technology in Brazil, as it makes solar energy more expensive for residential, commercial, industrial, rural and public consumers, making it difficult for the population to access solar energy, precisely at a time when the world is working. to combat climate change, which causes global warming and accelerates the energy transition.
For Ronaldo Koloszuk, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Absolar, the advance of solar energy is a reflection of the high potential of the source in Brazil and the resilience of the market to face the challenges of recent years.
“While the growth of solar energy demonstrates the robust role of this source in the Brazilian electricity matrix, it is important to highlight that the sector faced a series of challenges and barriers, which required a lot of resilience and adaptation from companies and their professionals,” he explains, adding:
“The year 2024, in particular, was one of great difficulties for the sector, with distributors refusing to connect new solar systems, due to complaints of reversal of the power flow, in the case of distributed generation. In the case of centralized generation, the sector was subject to power generation cuts (curtailment or constrained-off) by the National Electric System Operator (ONS), which seriously affected the income of generators, made it difficult to fulfill contracts and compromised investments. New solar projects. For both segments, the recent increase in the import tax on solar panels was received with concern and discontent, as it goes against the growth of technology in Brazil,” concludes Koloszuk.
In short: investing in Brazil is complicated and difficult for one reason: the government, instead of helping, hinders.