Small-scale solar surges in popularity in Brazil, nearly quadrupling in number over the past two years

Interest in local electricity sources is growing not only alongside rising energy commodity prices in Europe, but also in other regions of the world. Brazil is one example, with the number and total installed capacity of decentralised solar power plants rising sharply in recent years. While the number of small-scale solar installations in the country was negligible in 2017, their installed capacity had reached 19 GW by the end of the first quarter of this year.

Brazil has seen a sharp rise in installations of small decentralised electricity sources in recent years, the vast majority of which are solar power plants. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Brazil had 1.8 million decentralised electricity sources as of this March. With a total installed capacity of 19 GW, that works out to an average of around 10 kW of installed capacity per source. Data from Brazil’s energy regulator show that solar accounted for 99% of these sources, with small hydropower and wind plants making up the remaining one percent.